Illusive Rhapsody
by The Batchild
Summary: Jaklyn Porter is a young mutant with no one to show her how to handle her powers.  After a disastrous occurrence when she was young, she develops a fear of her mutation.  Eventually, she finds herself at Xavier's mansion with others who can help.  Takes places during X-Men II: X-Men United.
1. Chapter One : Fear and Solitude

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter and Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter One / _Fear and Solitude_

* * *

_**"She's a mutant! Get her!" **_

_She ran as fast as she could, knowing it probably wouldn't be fast enough. But it __**was**__ fast; her legs were muscled and nimble and they carried her with the speed and grace of a wolf. The men behind her were mutant haters and hunters, a bad combination, and they were in their trucks, howling along behind her, catching up, closing the distance… She tried to run faster. She was a mutant, she was what they were after, and she was absolutely terrified. Her breathing was quickly becoming shallow and ragged, and she could feel herself slowing down slightly, her muscles beginning to protest movement. Her heart was pounding painfully in her ears, and her emotions were reaching that critical height. Her form began to shimmer and blur as she ran. _

_She fell into a somersault because something inside told her to and a moment later, there was a massive wolf, black as pitch and streaked with plumes of electric blue around the neck and shoulders, in her place and obtained her gait. The wolf regained her lost stamina and left the hunters farther behind, slightly dazed at the transformation. Their confusion became rage and they unleashed a wave of bullets towards the strange animal. _

_Lowering her shoulders and running fast, she hoped she would not be hit. Her powerful stride swallowed the miles, and she found herself nearing a barn. Another wave of bullets was fired behind her and pain exploded in her shoulder a fraction of a second later. More bullets and pain tore through her right side and her left cheek. Blood obscured her left eye, and her body began to numb against the pain. She kept running. _

_The barn loomed over her suddenly and she tumbled into a pile of damp hay in the far corner, concealing herself from the hunters who appeared on foot at the doorway. She transformed back to her human state, and dug herself deeper into the hay, until her back was pressed against the damp wood of the building, trying not to make too much noise. The hay was clinging to her bloody wounds and a nasty ache had bloomed behind her left eye. The rest of her body was completely numbed with fear and pain and she thought for sure, she was going to die right there. Tears fell from her right eye and her thoughts turned to her parents at home in England. _

_"What are you doing on my farm?"_

_The voice was rather deep and had a heavy Russian accent. It cut through her thoughts like a bolt of lighting and she looked up, expecting to find she was being addressed. Finding no one there, she peered out through the hay and saw the hunters being confronted by a tall, young Russian man. He was leaning casually on the doorframe, staring the hunters down; his black hair was cut close to his head and he had a firm square jaw and a fire in his blue eyes. _

_"What are you doing on my farm?" _

_"A mutant ran into your barn," one of the hunters said. _

_The young man turned and looked around the inside of the barn. "I don't see anyone," he said, although his eyes rested on the pile of hay concealing her. "Now leave and let me get back to work. I have a lot to do today. The snows are coming soon." _

_"Just let us search your farm," another hunter demanded, raising his shot gun. "Now leave, boy. We won't be very long." The gun leveled at the young man's chest. _

_All she saw was the young man close his eyes as a silvery substance wound its way up his strong body, covering his flesh in a metal-like substance. She wished she could have witnessed the entire transformation, but she passed out then, and she saw no more. _

Jaklyn Porter awoke with a start, her body covered in sweat and the right side of her face covered in tears. Her right hand fluttered the scarred mass where her left eye used to be, but she winced in pain as soon as her fingers made contact and dropped her hand. The seventeen year old sighed, trying to bring herself into her normal, calm state of mind. Failing to do so, she grabbed a tissue from her bedside table and viciously wiped the tears away. Her right eye swiveled around to look at the bright red number on her alarm clock. 4:27am. Muttering to herself and suppressing any sobs, she swung her graceful legs over the side of the bed to find her slippers and head downstairs to the kitchen for some hot chocolate and orange-flavoured vodka.

Her home was in a small village in the English countryside. It was a foster home, but it had been home since she was about six. Her real parents had been killed by mutant hunters, and she had been left to her parents' human friends for care. It was a good home, but Jaklyn was the only mutant in the village – everyone found out when wolves started coming and sitting outside her bedroom window – and she was hated. As a result, she had to be home schooled and she had nothing even resembling a social life.

With her alcoholic hot chocolate in her hands, she sat down at the small table and straightened her red silk pajama pants. Her mind was a mess, thoughts of her parents, their deaths, and of her dream running around in a chaotic fashion. Jaklyn put her forehead on the wooden table and sighed, trying not to cry again.

"Jaklyn? Hon, are you all right?"

She looked up, despised to find there were tears, and found Jonathon Peters, her adoptive father, speaking to her. Jaklyn nodded, and wiped her eye clean. "I'm… just thinking about my parents, Jon… And… I had the dream again…" Subconsciously, she touched the scars on her face. "I… I don't know why I'm thinking about that day so much lately…"

Jonathon sat down in the chair next to her and took her hand. He was a kind man with sandy brown hair and bright gray eyes. A fatherly smile from him could usually cheer Jaklyn up, and he always knew what to say. "Do you think it might have something to do with Charles Xavier contacting you last week? That was when you started having the dream, wasn't it?" When his foster daughter nodded, he gave her hand a tight squeeze. A comfortable silence fell over the pair until Jonathon said, "Jaki, Hon, I think you should find out more about his school for mutants… I really think it would be the best place for you. You need to find how to control your powers, and be around other mutants."

"But… I couldn't just leave…"

"You shouldn't be here where you're hated and shunned. A seventeen year old girl should have a social life. You should have friends and be able to go to a proper school. Sammy and I will be all right, Jaki, don't worry."

Samantha Peters, Jonathon's wife, was just, if not more, as kind as her husband and was an excellent mother. Jaklyn had a great respect and love for the Peters, but she never called them Mom or Dad, and often, she often wished her parents had never been taken from her. She knew it was selfish, but she couldn't help thinking she had been cheated out of her right life.

"Jaki," Jon said quietly, "finish your hot chocolate and go back up to bed. You should try and get some more sleep."

She nodded and watched as he went back upstairs. As she sipped her not-so-hot chocolate and savoured the burning aftertaste of the vodka, she thought about her dream. That day had been over four years ago, but she could still feel the pain as if it had been yesterday. She had no idea who the mutant who saved her was, but she knew she owed him her life, and if she could find him one day, she planned to thank him profusely and do whatever else she could to repay him. Jaklyn replayed the dream in her head, focusing on the young man's face each time as she drank her comforting drink. Once she was finished, she deposited her mug in the sink and then trudged back upstairs and fell into her bed.

* * *

The next afternoon, Jaklyn volunteered to do the grocery shopping. She dressed in jeans and a big sweater, put her long dark hair up in a ponytail and tied a scarf around her scarred left cheek. Her army boots went on her feet and her MP3 player headphones in her ears and then she left the house, heading for the only grocery store in town, hoping no one would see her. She hadn't been outside in almost a week, so maybe she wouldn't be noticed.

The actual shopping went off without a hitch, and she was almost home before anything happened. A teenage boy, about the same age as Jaklyn was heading in the opposite direction, and he felt the need to run into her shoulder, knocking the grocery bags out of her arms, and her off her feet. Laughter erupted behind her, and she realized the boy had been walking with three of his friends, but she ignored them as she picked up what she could of the groceries. She managed to save everything but a few tomatoes and a couple eggs, and got to her feet, continuing her journey home. There was more laughter behind her, and then a wet splat against the back of her head.

A growl escaped Jaklyn's lips and her right eye flashed a violent blue colour, but none of the boys saw. She only paused for a second, and then kept walking, keeping the instinctual urge to change down. It was hard work, as she hadn't changed since the day she'd been shot, and there was a bottle of emotions inside ready to burst at any moment.

At home, she threw the groceries onto the counter and climbed the stairs growling that she was going to visit her parents' grave that night.

And so, several hours and almost half a bottle of vodka later, Jaklyn was putting on her boots and her MP3 player and heading outside again. It was near midnight, and the dark offered a concealing comfort, a protection, while the vodka coursing through her veins gave her the courage to venture out after the events of that afternoon.

"Be careful, Jaklyn," a quiet voice said behind her.

Giving only a growl in confirmation, Jaklyn opened the front door and left Samantha standing on the stairs, a pained look of worry on her face. Jaklyn didn't mean to be rude, but she was angry and needed the comfort of her parents. Samantha would understand.

* * *

The grove was perfect. At least, to a passerby, it was. The trees were tall, with long, elegant branches, and they weren't spaced too far apart or close together and there was a natural chaos about the whole grove. Foliage in every shade of green stood out against the dark, rough bark, and shaded the wealth of wildflowers. It was because of these rare areas that Jaklyn was beyond happy that her adoptive parents had moved from the big city, and back to this small village in the countryside.

But, to those in the know, the grove was not perfect in every way. The peaceful grove hid a secret. It hid the grave of Jaklyn's parents. The mutant couple had been murdered in that very grove, and their bodies had been left there to rot. Jaklyn had already been given to her adoptive parents at that time for protection, and she was only six when the incident took place. She couldn't very well bury her parents. Jonathon had begged the mayor of the village to allow Alexandra and Matthew's bodies to be buried in the communal graveyard, but he refused, saying that mutant remains did not belong in the same area as normal people. So, secretly, Jonathon had buried the bodies of his friends in the grove, hidden beneath the roots of the trees, and the foliage of years passed, and marked the grave with a flat stone engraved with the image of a rose.

Now, eleven years after the murder of her parents, Jaklyn lay in the dry brown leaves, the scarred side of her face pressed against the cool stone; salty tears trickled from her right eye, across the bridge of her nose, and past the useless mass of her left eye to pool in the recesses of the carved rose.

This was the custom for Jaklyn's visits. She would cry for a while, alone in the dark, and then gather herself together and tell her deceased parents about the events of her life since her last visit. Usually, her visits didn't last terribly long, because there was never much to talk about, and she was afraid. She talked a lot about the way things could have been if Alexandra and Matthew hadn't been taken away so early.

"Mom… Dad…" Jaklyn whispered, her hand tracing the stone rose. "I think I'm going to go to New York… to that school for mutants…" A sob. "I'd have to leave Jonathon and Samantha and you… but… I'd be safe and with mutants…"

Her voice drifted away as a metallic clicking noise reached her ears. There were no metallic noises like that in nature. The only thing that made that noise was a gun. But there shouldn't be anyone else in this grove. There shouldn't be anyone else even _around _the grove. It was three kilometers outside the village, and a ways back from the road. Keeping her senses alert, Jaklyn leaned forward and kissed the stone. With a whispered "I love you", she got to her feet and turned back towards the village, hoping she could walk back home without any trouble. Her boot heels clicked as they hit the pavement of the road, and the echo seemed louder than usual; Jaklyn didn't dare reach for her MP3 player, she needed all of her senses at her full disposal, even if they were heightened. Slowly, her wolf senses began to take over her human ones, and the world around her came into a brand new light.

Almost immediately after summoning her other senses, a yell broke out from behind her, back in the grove. Jaklyn snapped into a run and took off down the paved road. She heard more yelling and countless other noises arise, but no gun shots. Puzzled and alarmed she veered into the farmer's field on the side of the road, trying to loose the men behind her. That instinctual change rose inside her again and this time, she was powerless to stop it. Just as she crested the second hill on her trek, the change racked her bones, and she somersaulted twice before returning to her running pace, but as a pitch-coloured wolf, streaked with a violently bright blue.

"She's changed!" one of the men cried out behind her.

The fear began to grip Jaklyn's heart, despite the vodka inside her. This was supposed to be Jaklyn's safe-haven from the hunters; from everyone that hunted and hated mutants. Sure, everyone in the village knew she was a mutant, but they managed to tolerate her because she stayed away. But what had she done to make these men hunt her?

A gun shot rang out somewhere ahead of Jaklyn. The danger registered in her head and she turned to her right continuing at break neck speed. Another grove materialized around her. Jaklyn heaved a wolfish sigh of relief, but didn't stop. This grove was slightly larger than the one where her parents were buried, but it was less dense; the long shadows of the trees flashed in the moonlight. Jaklyn wouldn't be safe here either. She continued to run, panic gripping her heart.

_Woosh. _

Jaklyn howled painfully as the heavy net landed on her hindquarters and pulled her down to the grassy ground. She snapped her jaws frantically, twisting and trying to pull the obstruction that had become tangled around her hind legs off of her. Three dark shadows materialized above her, white eyes and teeth glaring down at her. The fear was pushed from her system by a mad surge of adrenaline; she growled and snapped, nearly foaming at the mouth.

"Looks like we caught the elusive _bitch,_" the largest of the shadows sneered. He put a nasty emphasis on the oath. "Let's see if she'll attack my son now…"

That was it… These men were the fathers of the boys from that afternoon… They'd obviously lied and said she attacked them… There was no way she'd be allowed to stay in the village now. She'd have to leave… She'd have to go to New York.

She gave up only for a few moments, thinking all was lost, but then her energy made a resurgence, as the taunting began and her adrenaline levels escalated. When it had reached its height, she launched herself out from under the net and closed her jaws around the nearest man's neck. The adrenaline was pumping through her now, as she ripped his neck out and let him fall to the ground. Hot blood poured from her mouth, and down her throat, and she became wilder. Startled, the other two men froze, and stared at her. Giving a wolfish smirk, Jaklyn leapt at them. They bolted. She chased. She killed.


	2. Chapter Two : Finally, Freedom

* * *

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter and Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Two / _Finally; Freedom_

* * *

Bloody and sore, Jaklyn tumbled back into the town. Immediately, she started towards her house, but thought better of it. The three bodies would be found in the morning, torn apart and unrecognizable as they were, and then more men would come for her. She wouldn't put Samantha and Jonathon through that when she was already ashamed as it was. So, instead, she headed for a dark alleyway on the edge of town and crawled to the back, falling behind a pile of garbage and changing back into her naked, human self.

Curling into the fetal position, Jaklyn twisted into a place of self-hatred and shame. She couldn't believe she'd just killed three men… Surrounded by garbage and feeling no better than any of it, Jaklyn swore she never transform again.

* * *

Professor Charles Xavier awoke as a flash of psychic energy shook his body. He lifted himself telekinetically into his wheelchair and took off towards the elevator, planning to go to the subbasement where Cerebro awaited. _Storm, Jean, _he said telepathically, knowing the two women would hear him even in their dreams. _I know it's early, but you two must go to England and get the young girl I told you about – Jaklyn Porter. She's in danger. _Not waiting for any confirmation of any sort, he wheeled his way to the metallic chamber and slipped the odd helmet onto his bald head.

Almost instantly, an image of Jaklyn erupted into his mind's eye. She was lying on her side, naked and buried under a pile of garbage. Xavier transferred this image to Storm and Jean, who were now awake and fully conscious, and gave them her location. A few moments later, a deep whirring and slight physical jolt shook the chamber and the Professor knew the X-Jet had just taken off, Storm at the controls and Jean co-piloting their way across the Atlantic Ocean.

_Just hold on a little while longer, Jaklyn, and we'll be there to get you… _

* * *

Jean Grey's fiery brown eyes scanned the English countryside as the X-Jet fell into a smooth landing. Storm, a fairly tall woman with snow white hair and cloudy eyes, was an excellent pilot, and Jean never had any fear of crashing with her friend behind the controls. The massive jet slid into a field outside a small village, and almost before it had come to a complete stop, Jean was standing in the knee-length grass, searching for the young mutant's psychic signature. It only took a brief moment, and once she had it, she was off at a jogging gait. Storm immediately headed for Jaklyn's home address to gather up her things, while Jean disappeared down a side street and then an alley.

_There she is. _Jean thought, falling to her knees beside the young girl. _She looks really beat up, although she's alive, and she'll survive with only some scars and bruising. _With a sigh of relief, Jean brushed the garbage off Jaklyn's pale skin and lifted her telepathically into the air. At a slow pace, Jean floated Jaklyn to the X-Jet and fastened her to a secure stretcher.

Jean sat on the hard seats lining the wall. With her elbows on her knees, and her chin in her hands, the red-headed woman studied her new charge. Jaklyn was about five foot eight with a slim yet curvy body and was well-proportioned. Her akin was pale, and her hair was down to her hips, black as pitch with a plume of violent blue over her right brow. The left side of her face was a mass of scar tissue, obscuring her eye and making it impossible to see. Similar scarring decorated her right hip. An open wound, red and surrounded by dried blood, had penetrated her left calf and grazed her right thigh. Two more gun shots were visible on her ankle and in the back of her shoulder. She had obviously been through a lot, in the past and recently, but all of the newer wounds had stopped bleeding and nothing looked to be life-threatening.

_Good… At least she'll make it back to the mansion. The Professor will be pleased._

Storm and Jaklyn's guardians arrived soon after jean and once the goodbyes had been said and the tears had been shed, Storm climbed back into her position behind the controls and Jean stayed in the back with Jaklyn. The X-Jet slowly lifted into the air and sped off, back to New York, where the infirmary waited with all the medical supplies the young woman would need.

* * *

The walls were made of a silver metal, glinting blue in the light from the hidden fluorescent tubes near the ceiling, as was the floor. Large, flat lamps hung in a line along the hallway, shining soft white light in pools. The infirmary was a cavernous space with machines and hospital beds lining the walls. In the back corner, there was a raised, private room with a slightly larger bed and a television. This was the room where Jaklyn was placed after Jean had finished tending to her wounds; Jean pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed, watching the girl and keeping an eye on her vital signs.

"Jean?"

She turned at the soft but firm voice and smiled at Professor Xavier. "Hello Professor." She stifled a yawn and rubbed subconsciously at her right eye.

"What's her status?" he asked, kind eyes full of concern.

That was one of the remarkable things about Charles Xavier. He hardly knew Jaklyn Porter, yet he cared deeply about her and hoped with every fibre that she would survive. It was an advantage to being psychic, Jean well knew. Because of the connection felt from telepathic contact, there was a bond established and the people involved became connected in several ways.

"She's stable," Jean said, tone all business and eyes on the clipboard. "Sustained one gun shot wound to her right ankle, one to her right shoulder and one to her left calf, all of which were through and through, except the one to her shoulder. It hit the blade and stopped. There is stress present most of her joints, and I found human flesh in her teeth. All of her other injuries are superficial and will disappear."

The Professor seemed pleased by this news and folded his hands in his lap as he sat back in his chair. "Excellent. I'm glad to hear that she'll be all right." His eyes met Jean's. "Her room will be in the empty room at the top of the West tower. Have her moved up there as soon as she's able to be moved." After a contemplative moment of silence, he added, "I want her to adjust as soon as possible. She's going to have a very different life here." He laughed slightly – he had picked up Jean's unasked question, probably telepathically. "Yes, it will be difficult, Jean, but Jaklyn's a strong girl. She'll be all right. She has been through worse. But," he sighed, "if you're really worried about her, feel free to keep an eye on her. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get back upstairs."

Jean smiled to herself as Professor Xavier wheeled out of the infirmary. _Jaklyn will be all right, _she told herself. _The Professor's right… She has been through a lot worse than adjusting to a new life. _She had read the girl's background and medical history when she'd been deciding how to treat her, and had stumbled upon the incident three years ago and the witnessed murder of her parents/ For such a young age, Jaklyn Porter had experienced a hard, hard life, and, unfortunately, Jean knew it probably wasn't really going to improve any time soon.

* * *

Jaklyn's eye fluttered open and she gasped slightly, realizing she had no idea where she was, although her internal clock told her it was somewhere around midnight. The soft blue lighting and metal walls were coldly unfamiliar, as was the hospital bed and stiff white sheets beneath her. A television hung from the ceiling to her right and a thick white curtain hung over the opening directly in front of her; she assumed this would be the entrance to the little circular room, as the rest of the walls were solid. Her body was as stiff as the sheets she was laying on, and as sore as it had been three years ago. A ghastly IV needle hung from her right arm. With a grimace, the memories of the previous night came back to her, as did the pain from her gun shot wounds.

_Great, so I'm in a bloody hospital again. Damn it. _She tried to move, but couldn't. _And I'm attached to this bed, well not really, but… Oh _– another grimace – _and I'm wearing a hospital gown. This is just where I want to be… I need a drink… _But there was no one around, and not even a glass of water beside the bed; water was not what she was thirsty for, however. She wanted vodka. Jaklyn sighed and forced herself to relax against the pillows and close her eyes. She heard the _swish _of a curtain being moved aside a moment later.

"Should we wake her?"

"I'm not asleep," Jaklyn mumbled. She opened her eyes again and found two young women staring back at her. "Who the bloody hell are you?" she asked, rolling her head as the girls sat in two chairs mysteriously positioned beside the bed.

"I'm Silence Allerdyce," the taller of the two said. She had luscious, deep red-brown hair that hung in soft waves to her elbows, framing a softly shaped face. Her lips were formed in such a way that made her look like she was permanently pouting, and she had brilliant red, almond-shaped eyes. A warm smile lit her face and there seemed to be some sort of fire within her; Jaklyn could almost see flames flickering across Silence's tan skin. She was wearing black caprees pants, a tight black tank top and black flip flops.

"And I'm Mina Felisin." The other girl was a little shorter than her companion, with medium length auburn hair piled up at the back of her head in some sort of bun. Her eyes were very a bright blue, and her entire disposition was kind and approachable, if a little shy. She was wearing tight, hip-hugger jeans and a loose burgundy shirt with black kung-fu slippers on her feet.

To Jaklyn, these girls looked very comfortable in the all-too-insane-asylum-looking room, and she felt like some subject under study. "I'm Jaklyn Porter. What do you want?"

Silence shoved a tray of food towards her; up until that point, Jaklyn hadn't even noticed the food. Gratefully, she accepted and began shoveling the food into her mouth. She hadn't realized how hungry she actually was; it must have been a side-effect of the change. The three girls chatted casually as Jaklyn ate.

"So where am I?"

"You're at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters," Mina nearly whispered, smiling. "Jean and Storm brought you here yesterday morning – early."

Jaklyn sighed with relief, but the names confused her. _Jean is normal enough, but Storm? And why does she speak of them with such awe?_ "How much longer am I going to have to stay down here? The Professor told me this place was beautiful. I want to see it." She tried to sit up and managed, with a little help from Silence to prop herself up on some pillows.

"It is beautiful," she said as she moved back to her chair. "But you'll probably have to be down here for at least another day. I don't think Jean has done any of the tests yet."

"Tests?"

"Don't worry, Jaklyn," Mina said, her voice a little louder this time. "They're nothing. Jean just needs to get an idea of your powers. How far they've mutated. That sort of thing." She smiled. "When you're released, Silence and I will show you around. You'll love it here." The smile broadened. "But right now, you should probably get some more rest."

Silence and Mina left then, and Jaklyn was alone, her mind wandering and trying to imagine what the world was like above her.


	3. Chapter Three : A Place to Call Home?

**Disclaimer… **I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Three / _A Place to Call Home?_

* * *

Just as Mina had said, there were tests to be run, and Jaklyn was awoken by a hiss about eight the next morning. As her eye opened, she found herself looking at a tall, thin, red-headed woman reading from a clipboard. After a moment, the woman slipped into a wheeled chair rolled over to the bedside.

"Hello Jaklyn. I'm glad to see you're awake. I was hoping you'd be with us today."

"I'm guessing you're Jean Grey?" she asked, her English accent sounding heavy in contrast to Jean's American voice.

The woman nodded, a few strands of her red bangs falling into her eyes. She brushed them away and smiled at Jaklyn. "These tests will only take a couple of hours and then we can get you upstairs to your room. I know you must be anxious to get out of here."

With a nod from Jaklyn, the tests began. The first were just normal checkups everyone gets when they visit their family doctor; massaging of the throat glands, checking blood pressure – that sort of thing. The tests to follow were strictly for mutants though. Jean took Jaklyn into the main area of the infirmary where a bunch of strange looking machines awaited them. Jaklyn was asked to change into her wolf form, and it took a long while to convince her, but she eventually agreed, asking that Jean restrain her for safety's sake. Jean Grey tested each of Jaklyn's heightened senses, her speed, strength and stamina. For the last test, which was the longest, Jaklyn was human again and laying on a different bed, more like a stretcher, and the Professor came in to probe her mind, and to explore her powers and predict her mutations. He left before Jaklyn awoke again. Apparently he was happy with what he'd seen.

When she did wake up, she felt better than she had when the day had begun, but there was a burning in her throat; she was thirsty and wanted vodka, and she obviously couldn't get any. Jean was no longer in the room, but she wasn't alone. Silence and Mina were sitting in the same chairs as yesterday, chatty idly to one another. When they noticed her, they both had warm smiles to offer. The gestures pushed thoughts of vodka from her mind.

"Morning, sunshine," Silence said.

Jaklyn had to laugh. She was so surprised these people were actually talking to her, being friendly; she had never had that before. Her spirits were lifted by this behaviour though, and as she sat up, Jaklyn grinned stupidly. Mina handed her a pile of clothes which Jaklyn recognized after a moment as her own, and then the two girls left her alone to change. She emerged a moment later, clothed and in some semblance of order, smiling, and tying her striped blue scarf around her eye. Thankfully, neither of the girls asked why she tied the scarf around her scars; come to think of it, neither had said anything about the scars. That made Jaklyn very happy.

"You ready for a full day, Jak? Do you mind if I call you that?" Silence was beaming, standing with her hands on her hips.

"Uh, I guess not…"

"Come on," Mina chimed, also standing up. "We should get upstairs before everyone runs away to do their own things." She smiled again at Jaklyn. "You've got a lot of people to meet."

Silence led the way into the hallways of the subbasement, which were a labyrinth of soft-looking metal walls and shimmering blue lights, and then to the elevators. Jaklyn started worrying that the entire mansion was decorated in the blue-tinged metal, but as they emerged onto the ground floor of the mansion, she was settled. Where the subbasement was cold and modern, the main house was warm and ancient, brilliant and inviting. Obviously, great care and pains had been taken when the house had been built to keep it fit for living in. Mina and Silence had to virtually pull Jaklyn away from some of the paintings on the wall and the sculptures dotting the hallways as they headed towards the main living room where many of the students were likely to be located.

The first people the trio encountered were Jean and a tall, slim man wearing silver sunglasses with red lenses. He had a kind smile and was introduced as Scott Summers, or Cyclops. Jaklyn wasn't sure if asking about other mutant's powers was polite or accepted, but the sunglasses made her curious, so she decided to take a chance. She asked, and Scott was all too happy to answer. Only Silence did first.

"He shoots laser beams from his eyes," Silence said, gesturing widely.

"Basically," Scott sighed, smiling. "I suffered head trauma when I was kid and now I can't control the beams. These," he tapped his sunglasses, "are made of a ruby quartz material and they keep the beams from hurting anyone."

"So, you have to wear those all the time?" Jaklyn asked, trying to comprehend that.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, but I'm used to it, so it's OK."

After friendly goodbyes, Jaklyn and the other girls headed into the living room. The British girl blinked her one eye and stared at the twelve or so mutant kids occupying the vast space. She had had no idea that there were so many mutants in the world, and those she was seeing weren't even that many.

"Maybe you'll be lucky enough to see Cerebro in action," Mina said. "There are probably close to a million mutants in the world, and you can see where they all are with that thing. I got to see it once… I was in awe for days. And, according to Ms. Skeptical over here," she said, pointing at Silence, "I didn't shut up about it for that whole time." Mina leaned closer to Jaklyn. "Silence doesn't believe there are that many mutants in the world."

"It's kind of a comforting feeling," Jaklyn mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah," Silence interrupted. "I'm going to point everyone who's important out to you, so just try to pay attention, 'kay Jak?"

Sitting on a couch in front of large glass doors were a pair of people who looked like a couple. Their names were Bobby Drake, or Iceman – a tallish youth with light brown hair, light blues eyes and a friendly smile – and Rogue, who either didn't have another name or Silence didn't know what it was; Jaklyn picked up a frosty aura from her and her white-streaked hair, and was kind of put off. Silence's brother, St. John Allerdyce or Pyro, walked passed them into the room, flicked his orange-ish-blond hair and smiled at Mina before biting off a snarky comment at Silence. He didn't even notice Jaklyn, but, somehow, she didn't mind. Silence spent a good couple minutes listing off the names off the other children – Jaklyn was sure she wasn't going to remember who was who very long – before she pointed at another couple sitting on the couch in front of the television - a smaller, brown-haired girl named Kitty Pryde – Shadowcat – huddled into the arm of a big, muscular, familiar-looking youth with black hair and smiling blue eyes.

"And that is Piotr Rasputin. Here, we call him Peter or Pete and his X-name is Colossus," Silence concluded. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Jaklyn stepped forward, towards the couch, starring at the young Russian man.

"He can cover his body in metal, right?"

Piotr had looked up at them upon hearing his name, but now, he too, was starring at Jaklyn, a look of surprise and a little shock on his handsome Russian face. Kitty was looking to Mina and Silence for an explanation, but neither had one to offer. None of them spoke for a few very long minutes. Piotr was the one who broke that silence by rising to his feet and towering over them from his height of six foot eight inches.

"You're the girl from the barn," he said, smiling. "It's good to see that you are in one piece after that."

"Thank you," Jaklyn whispered, stepping closer to him, craning her neck. He was a full foot taller than her. "Thank you for saving my life. I never got a chance to thank you before…" She smiled shyly at him, and he at her, the two sharing a private moment amidst the chaos.

"What the hell are you talking about, Jaklyn? You _know _him?" Silence asked, looking back and forth between her two friends. She then looked at Mina, whose blue eyes were equally wide with amazement. "She knows him already… What the hell are the odds of that?" She turned her eyes back to Jaklyn and Piotr. "Damn, this is cool."

"Uhm, you're welcome…" Piotr said somewhat awkwardly. He stepped back and gestured towards the couch. "Do you guys want to join us?" His accent had faded considerably in his few years in America, but the sound of his voice suited him well. "We were watching a TV movie of some kind, I think."

The three girls nodded and crowded onto the couch. Jaklyn tried to focus on the television, but she couldn't shake the feeling of someone looking at her. When she finally turned her head after enduring moments of the feeling, she found Kitty giving sideways glances towards her, and Jaklyn was sure she was looking at her scarf.

"Why do you wear that scarf, Jaklyn?" Kitty finally asked.

Jaklyn sighed, and then looked past Kitty to Piotr. "Three years ago, I was in Russia with my adoptive parents, visiting some friends they had there. I went for a walk in the woods and met a pack of wolves. My powers manifested then, and, unluckily, there were some hunters who were also mutant hunters in the area. They chased me and shot me, so, looking for cover, I ran into the nearest building, which just happened to be Piotr's barn." She paused, remembering. "The last thing I saw before I passed out was Pitor keeping the hunters away from where I was hiding. He saved my life."

"After they left," Piotr said, drawing the attention away from Jaklyn, who was secretly grateful. "I took her into the house and we got her to the hospital. My family and I never found out what happened after."

Kitty smiled, as did Silence and Mina, and then said, "That's the kind of guy Pete is."

Suddenly, a shriek of joy echoed into the living room, and a young mutant came running in, followed by another young boy. The first one made it around the couch no problem, but the second boy tripped on a rug, and as he fell, grabbed onto the back of the couch for support. His small hand gripped the end of Jaklyn's scarf, and with a yank that pulled her head back a bit, the cover came off her face, revealing the scarred mass to everyone in the room. And indeed, it was everyone, because the shrieks had drawn the attention and focus of all in the room.

Panic gripped Jaklyn's heart, afraid that they would say things; they would shun her, because, even among the mutants, she was different. She wasn't whole.

_"What's wrong with her face?"_

_"Why doesn't she have two eyes?"_

_"She looks… weird."_

Jaklyn shook her head, trying to shut off her wolf senses – she didn't want to hear the comments. Finding herself unable to get rid of the noise, she covered her ears and left the room.

* * *

Piotr looked down at the striped blue scarf on floor and picked it up. He stood beside the couch, gently stroking the soft fabric. "Where is her room?" he asked no one in particular.

"The top of the West Tower," Mina answered. "Do you want me to come with you?"

The big Russian shook his head. He smiled at Kitty. "I'll be back down in a couple minutes. I just want to make sure she's all right."

When Kitty nodded, Piotr turned and headed in the direction Jaklyn had gone. He had no doubt that she had _no_ idea where she was going, so she was probably lost. But he couldn't believe she was here, at the mansion. As Silence had questioned, what were the odds of that? He was glad she was here though, as Piotr had never really been able to get her out of his head. The images he retained her from that day were vivid, and he had frequently sketched them. No one knew about those sketches. They were private.

A faint mumbling reached his ears, and, upon following it, he found Jaklyn sitting in a shadowy corner, her head pressed into her knees. Piotr moved to stand in front of her.

"You are no where near your room."

She looked up, revealing her tear-stained cheek and the frustrated look in her eye. All she offered was a bit of a growl before hiding her face again. Piotr knelt in front of her and pulled her to her feet; it was an easy move, as she weighed around one hundred and twenty pounds and Piotr could bench press almost double that. He helped her retie her scarf around her eye.

"I don't think you should wear your scarf," he said quietly once they had started walking.

"Why not?" Her voice was more harsh than it had been before.

He half-shrugged. "You shouldn't be ashamed of your scars. The fact that you survived a bullet through your head is a miracle and should not be hidden."

Jaklyn didn't answer him and the rest of their walk was done in silence. Piotr led her to another semi-concealed elevator, and they went up two floors. To get to the top of the tower though, they had to ascend another three flights of stairs, but the room that waited was well worth the effort.

Both of the towers had had their top floors converted into bedroom; Kitty resided in the other tower. The room was fairly large with massive windows on almost every wall. A wall had been built across a section of the room to house a bathroom and closet. A double bed was against the wall on the far side of the room, and beside the door that led to the stairs, a large desk was positioned. A window seat had been installed in front of the windows that offered a magnificent view of the mansion grounds.

Immediately, Jaklyn's disposition improved and she smiled widely. "This is a gorgeous room!'

Piotr smiled and nodded. "I'll leave you to unpack then. Dinner for everyone's at seven, but you can get something from the kitchen earlier or later if you're hungry."

He offered her one more grin and then left her alone.


	4. Chapter Four : Professor X and Iceman

**Disclaimer… **I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Four / _Professor X and Iceman_

* * *

_Jaklyn, please come to my office as soon as possible. _

A route through the mansion flashed across her mind a few times and then Jaklyn awoke, blinking and confused. An image of a man she knew was Professor Xavier flashed across her vision, and she knew he had called her to his office. With a groan, she rolled out of the comfortable bed and wiggled her toes into her slippers – a few items of clothing and her toiletries were all she had unpacked the day before. As quickly as she could, as she wasn't a morning person, Jaklyn dressed in her favourite jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. She tied her scarf around her scars and brushed her long, long black hair, and left her tower room in her slippers and began following the mental route that kept flashing through her mind.

Jaklyn didn't pick up any urgency in the Professor's summons, so she took her time, winding through the richly decorated corridors and trying to find a sense of comfort in her new home. Those few mutants she passed didn't say anything to her, and she didn't say anything to them; Jaklyn was accepting the fact that she was probably going to be the silent resident of the mansion.

After almost ten minutes, Jaklyn found the door to Professor Xavier's office and knocked.

"Come in Jaklyn."

She slid the door open and stepped into the office decorated similarly to the rest of the mansion. "Morning Professor," she mumbled, shutting the door behind her and taking a seat in a cushy, chocolate brown leather chair.

"I called you here Jaklyn, to talk about your schedule here at the mansion. You will attend classes on level with those they offer in regular schools, and you will have a class schedule to follow. Homework is also the same as normal schooling. Here is a printed copy of your schedule." He pulled a white sheet of paper from a folder on his desk and handed it to her. Without giving her time to look it over, the Professor said, "And beyond those classes, you will have Danger Room group sessions with some of your classmates and private sessions with Storm. She and Jean will work with you on achieving your full mutations. Your group sessions will be with Jean, Cyclops, Pyro, Blaze, Silverfox and Colossus, and they will be on Mondays and Fridays. Your private sessions will be on Wednesdays – all of the times are on your schedule."

"Uh, thank you Professor."

"I know it seems overwhelming, but we can't let you sit around."

"I know. It'll just take some time to get used to."

The Professor nodded, and fixed his kind, soft eyes on the young girl. "Jaklyn, while I was probing your mind when you came here, I discovered a mild dependency on vodka. We can not have that in the school, Jaklyn, especially because, here, you are underage."

"I know, Professor… I can… Well, try and stop."

"Please do. Not only is illegal, but if you were inebriated during a Danger Room session, you could be seriously injured or seriously injure someone else."

Jaklyn nodded, looking at her hands, folded in her lap.

After a moment of silence, the Professor cleared his throat and shifted back in his chair. "You should go and get some breakfast and spend the rest of the day settling in. Classes start tomorrow." He smiled a warm, friendly smile, and she knew he wasn't angry with her about the drink. "The kitchen is down the hall and to the right."

Jaklyn rose and returned the smile. Holding her schedule in her hands, she left the office and headed down the hall, keeping her eyes and nose open for the kitchen. She was having some difficulty concentrating on her goal, as her thoughts were all on the harsh taste of her favourite drink. An inviting aroma reached her after a short while of walking, drawing her out of her stupor, and she followed it into the brightly lit room where she found Bobby Drake standing over the stove, tending to a large fry pan.

"Do you want an omelet?" he asked, without turning around.

Startled, Jaklyn nodded. "Just cheese on mine, please." She noticed a plate with a few slices of bacon sitting on the counter in front of the microwave and she slipped it into the device, plugging in three minutes to start. "How did you know who it was?" she asked, sliding onto one of the bar stools around the island.

"Anyone else would have come in the connection and asked me for breakfast right away. You're new and the only one who wouldn't have said anything." Bobby turned around and smiled a greeting, the eggs issuing savory-smelling steam from two pans behind him; he had started another pan as soon as he had asked if she wanted one. "It's a normal occurrence, so don't plan on making food for just one. Ever. You _always _end up cooking for someone else."

"There's no big breakfast for everyone?"

Bobby turned around to check the eggs. He added cheese to both from a pile of already shredded cheddar, and then turned back around. "On Saturday and special occasions but no other time. Sometimes someone bakes a bunch of muffins, but usually we're left to fend for ourselves for breakfast and lunch."

"There's always a big supper?"

Bobby nodded and then turned around and flipped the omelets over. He put the bacon in for a couple more minutes and, when that was done, brought the breakfast to the island. He slid into the seat beside her and started eating. "Yeah, there's always dinner at seven, but you can always eat earlier or later if you want. That just means you have to fend for yourself."

Jaklyn smiled and nodded. She grabbed the ketchup sitting on the table and squirted some on her eggs and then dug in. For a while they ate in silence, but Jaklyn was getting a vibe of curiosity from the young man beside her.

"Your name is Jaklyn, right?"

"Yeah."

"What can you do, Jaklyn? If you don't mind me asking."

She was quiet for several minutes, shoving ketchupy egg around on her plate with a fork. Jaklyn tucked some hair behind her ear and looked up at Bobby, unsure if she should tell him or not.

"I can create ice." He extended his hand and touched one finger to the ketchup bottle. Slowly at first, but increasingly more rapidly, a sheath of blue-white ice covered the bottle and, in less than a minute, it was completely covered. "I can manipulate it to, so you can imagine the kind of things I can do with it, but, according to Jean and Storm, I haven't reached the limit of my mutations yet."

Jaklyn smiled and nodded her thanks to him. "I can transform into a wolf. I have all the heightened senses and strengths that come with it, but I've only transformed twice in my life. I don't know much of what I can do, let alone what I will be able to do. I'm in the dark about my powers."

Bobby laughed a bit around a bite of egg. "We all are."

Jaklyn also laughed, and for several more minutes, they are in silence.

"Why do you were that scarf?" he asked. "I saw the scars yesterday, but, again, if you don't mind, I'd like to know why you cover them up."

"Self-conscious."

"Ah."

"What are the lessons like?" Jaklyn asked, hurriedly changing the subject. For a minute, she dreaded Bobby would push on with her scars, but he too moved on and answered her question.

"The classes cover the same material as normal classes do, but there are fewer people and the lessons are applied to mutants more often than not."

"I was home-schooled after I returned from Russia. So, for the past three years, I haven't been around other people. I'm socially-retarded." Jaklyn scoffed and finished off her omelet. "I'm really uncomfortable around a lot of people, actually."

"Ah, you'll get used to all of us."

They both rose from the table and Bobby volunteered to take her on a tour of the grounds. Jaklyn readily agreed and, after the dishes were figuratively tossed in the sink, the pair headed outside into the expansive backyard. Directly out the backdoors, a great coral-coloured, stone patio stretched the length of the main house and wide steps descended to coral paths winding through emerald lawns and vegetation; between two central rose of marble planters there was a long pond, decorated with colourful lilies and housed large Koi fish. Benches dotted the pathways and a sapphire pool took of a large portion of the yard to the left. The coral pathways dissolved into gravel as they wound farther back and into the wooded area at the back of the property.

"The property is huge," Bobby said as they proceeded towards the pool. "It's very peaceful."

"It is."

As they walked, Jaklyn realized Piotr and Kitty were sitting on a blanket on the soft-looking lawn, eating what was obviously a picnic breakfast. She stopped walking and sighed heavily, more to herself then as a signal to the change in her mood. Bobby stopped a few steps ahead of her and turned around, giving her a confused look.

"Are you all right?"

She gestured vaguely in the direction of Piotr and Kitty. "Like I said, I haven't had much of a social life since I was fourteen. I've never had a boyfriend, a kiss or anyone besides my parents and adoptive parents to love me." She paused and shook her head. "I must sound foolish rambling on like this."

"No. It's OK," Bobby said. He smiled and they kept walking. "Who's Danger Room session are you in?"

"Not yours. I'm with Pyro and Blaze, and whoever else is in that group."

"Oo, have fun. Those two are relentless."

"Who is Blaze? I know Pyro is John."

"Blaze is Silence and she's a ruthless fighter. Silverfox, which is Mina, is also in that group and Colossus. Jean and Cyclops are in charge of that group, so you don't have to be too worried about getting hurt, but be careful anyways. Pyro and Blaze have legendary sibling fights."

Jaklyn swallowed. "I have my first session tomorrow."

Bobby smiled. "You'll do fine." He looked past Jaklyn, into the living room window. He waved at someone and then looked down at Jaklyn. "I've got to go. You'll be all right now?"

"Yeah, I think I'll head back to my room and start a painting."

Bobby nodded and jogged back towards the mansion, leaving Jaklyn on the marble path by herself. She cast one look around the grounds and then, she too, headed back to the house, eagerly anticipating the beginning stages of a painting and the bottles of vodka she knew Samantha would have packed in the bottom of her bag.


	5. Chapter Five : Danger Room 101

**Disclaimer… **I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Five / _Danger Room 101_

* * *

Jaklyn re-entered the subbasement reluctantly; Mina and Silence pretty much had to drag her against the memories of the infirmary. The young mutant didn't think that being in the hospital for such a short period of time would have affected her so much, but the blue metal walls made her skin crawl as she remembered the strange feelings of the mutant-based tests. Everything at the mansion was just so different and Jaklyn was having a harder time adjusting than anyone had thought she would.

"Come on Jak. Danger Room sessions are harmless."

Mina rolled her eyes, but Jaklyn didn't take any notice. "What are we going to do? Will I have to change?" Questions were flying through Jaklyn's mind, but her lips would form the words to voice them.

"Jean will explain everything," Mina said reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. The Danger Room _is _controlled, so nothing will happen to you. Jean and Scott wouldn't let it." Mina fixed Jaklyn's eye with her own. "I promise that you will leave the room in one piece, OK?"

Jaklyn nodded, even though she still wasn't one-hundred percent sure. Mina and Silence steered her into a brightly lit change room and showed her to a shelf and hook with her name on a metal plate labeling the contents as her own. She removed a pair of black yoga pants, a black t-shirt and a pair of black, flexible running shoes. Quickly, she changed into the work-out clothes and followed her friends back into the hall. They were standing in front of a big, circular, metal door. Silence was stretching and Mina was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. Jaklyn decided to follow Silence's example and began stretching out her legs while they waited. Soon, Piotr and John joined them a few moments later and began warming up as well. It wasn't long after that that Jean and Scott appeared, dressed in leather outfits. They both looked ready for a fight.

"We're doing flag drills today," Jean stated, planting her hands firmly on her hips. "Twenty six flags, fifteen minutes. Whoever gets the most, wins." She turned her fiery eyes on John and Silence. "You two will be watched closely. Any bickering or fighting and you two are banned from Danger Room sessions for a month. The last time we had to pull you two out of here, we had thousands of dollars in damage to the holo-equipment."

"_I'll _be good," Silence said, giving her brother a sideways look of smugness.

All Jean had to do was glare and Silence shut up. John sniggered behind his sister's back and another glare silenced him. Piotr used this momentary distraction to smile reassuringly at Jaklyn. She shakily returned the gesture and there was no doubt in her mind that her smile was no where near as confident as his had been; or as confident as she would have liked it to be. She didn't want to seem shy and afraid in front of these mutants, but she did. Especially since they were about to head into a combat situation, simulated as it may be.

"All right everyone," Cyclops said, drawing the attention of all the students. "Let's head in there and get ready. We'll start in a few moments."

The group followed Scott into a massive chamber where the walls were also made of bluish metal. Jaklyn stayed closed to Mina as they assembled on the other side of the door, her eye flicking nervously from side to side, scanning the room and taking in all the details. There weren't any machines visible, but she didn't let that sway her. Jaklyn was sure that, hidden somewhere amongst the interlocking panels in the wall, powerful machines were hidden, ready to throw their worst. She let a shiver of fear ripple through her.

"Hey Jaki," Mina whispered. "It'll be all right. Just relax."

"Get ready," Scott commanded as he and Jean moved to stand on either side of the group. "Run Danger Room simulation, program 112," he said, evidently to the ceiling.

A low whirring noise began to fill the chamber and images appeared suddenly all around them. The students found themselves standing in a hallway, their backs to a dead-end. Jaklyn reached out and touched the wall, the tile feeling smooth and cool beneath her fingers; her mouth formed a small "O" in astonishment, but it didn't last long, as a zipping sound snapped through the air and a group of brass-coloured robots appeared in front of them. Their sensors locked onto the mutant signatures and the robots lunged.

Everyone around her seemed to moved into action instinctively. Beside her, Silence's hands became sheathed in flame and her eyes took on a red glow as she sent two balls of fire hurtling towards their attackers. Mina's form blurred and three silver foxes took her place. John's lighter clicked and for a moment, fire filled Jaklyn's vision, but not long enough to obstruct her view of Piotr's skin turning silver with liquid fastness. In less than a minute, Jaklyn was standing alone in the hallway, breathing heavily and unsure of what to do next.

"Jaklyn!"

She turned and saw one of the foxes standing at the end of the hallway, beckoning with her tail. Jaklyn nodded and took off at a jog, following the little animal. As the explosions and flames filled the air around her, adrenaline began pumping through her veins and she ran on her own, veering off from the fox's path to find some flags of her own.

_I can do this! _she thought excitedly. _I can really do this! _

She rounded a corner and her cobalt eye found a crimson coloured flag pinned to the wall. There were none of the robots around, and none that she could hear sounded terribly close. The flag was hers for the taking. All she had to do was walk down the hall and grab it. She began to do just that, but as soon as she was five feet away from the end of the hall, another zipping noise snapped in her ears and five robots were blocking her path. Jaklyn set her face in determination, preparing to fight the machines, but they were too quick. One kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying back into the wall and then the fear took over. Jaklyn huddled in that spot, and dodged the further assaults, screaming and trying vainly to get closer to the flag.

She was not going to succeed.

A metal foot connected with her cheek, her teeth cutting her lips and the inside of her mouth. A laser singed her shoulder, leaving a burning mark and a hand circled her neck.

_I'm going to die…_

Metal hands of a different colour appeared, knocking two of the fiends out of the way. They collapsed to the ground a few feet away and disappeared in a flurry of digital information.

"Change, Jaklyn!"

She shook her head, not looking up at Colossus; tears now started to pour down her cheek. She was terrified.

Colossus disposed of the other three robots and bent down to pick up Jaklyn. He took the flag from the wall and added it to the others at his belt and then bounded off, back towards the entrance.

"You should try and stay closer to Mina or Silence, Jaklyn."

And then he was gone, leaving Jaklyn seated in the corner of the hallway were the simulation had started. She drew her knees to her chest and pressed her face into them. She had failed. Her first class at the perfect school and she had failed. What would the people think of her now? They already thought she was a freak because she was missing an eye and now she couldn't perform in a Danger Room session either, and she was convinced that even the youngest of the students could run through these sessions as easy as they could read a book or do a math problem. Jaklyn felt like an outcast, in this place, the only place, that she thought she could have felt normal.

When the simulation ended, the hallways disappeared and the other students, Jean and Scott headed back towards the door where Jaklyn was sitting. Colossus, who was in the process of reverting back to his human skin as he strode victoriously towards the door, sported the majority of the flags at his belt, while Mina held the rest. Silence and John had sour looks on their faces and both had their arms crossed.

"Jaklyn." Jean was standing beside Jaklyn, her hand extended down, offering her help up. When the younger mutant was on her feet beside Jean, the older woman smiled warmly and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I have to apologize. We shouldn't have run a program more advanced than you were ready for. I am sorry, but you've got to overcome your fear of changing." Jean's gaze turned harsher. "You're not going to be excused for not participating next time. You're going to have to adjust quickly, all right?"

Jaklyn nodded and mumbled an apology before heading back to the girl's change room. She pulled her normal clothes on and, without looking at anyone or saying anything, she followed Mina back up to the ground floor of the mansion, and into a small study-type room near the Professor's office, where Mina quietly informed her that that was where their English class would be.

Piotr was also in that class, as well as John, Silence, Bobby, Kitty and Rogue. A few other mutants that Jaklyn hadn't met filled the room and when the Professor rolled in, the class began. Jaklyn didn't pay much attention. She just stared out the window and let her thoughts wander, and let herself begin to feel more and more like and idiot and more and more upset. The Professor handed out a new book at the end of class, _Fifth Business_, and once Jaklyn had her copy, she left and started down the hallway towards the conservatory where she had biology with Storm.

"Jaklyn, wait."

She rolled her eye and turned around.

"Are you OK?" Piotr asked when he had caught up with her. "You were pretty shaken in there."

Jaklyn paused before she answered; thinking carefully of what she was going to say next. "I… I've only changed three bloody times before in my life. The first time was when you found me, the second time I killed three men and the third time… The third time I asked Jean to restrain me so no one would get hurt! If I transform and am allowed to roam around, someone is going to get hurt." She looked away from him. "When I transform, it's like something else takes control… Some raging beast… Some animal…" Jaklyn blinked away tears in her eyes. "So no, I'm not OK. I'm terrified and I don't ever want to change again, but that'll make me more of a freak than I already am and that's not what I want! So I have a bit of a dilemma here and I don't know what I should bloody do!"

Piotr blinked and for a moment, tried to find words to express what he was thinking. "Jaklyn…"

"I'm going to biology. I'll see you later."

And she walked away, rubbing furiously at her eye.

* * *

"What happened in the Danger Room today, Jaklyn?" Bobby asked as she sat down in the desk between him and Mina. "I heard you froze up. Is that true?"

Jaklyn opened her mouth to respond and tell him what really happened – like she trusted Piotr, she trusted Bobby and she could hear the concern in his voice. Ororo Munroe appeared beside her desk, cutting her off.

"Jaklyn, Jean has asked me to run a solo session with you in the Danger Room this evening to help you get used to the situation. I'll be running some other drills with you outside of the room first, but I want you to prepare yourself to change and to fight. The other students have been invited to watch to help you get used to being around others during simulations."

Jaklyn nodded glumly.

"Come down to the Danger Room around eight and we'll begin."

The rest of the day dragged on slowly and all the while, Jaklyn was dreading the approach of eight o'clock.


	6. Chapter Six : Animal She Has Become

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Six / _Animal She Has Become _

* * *

"Are you ready Jaklyn?"

Storm's voice over the speaker sounded so far away. Jaklyn stood in the middle of the Danger Room, wearing a special headband fixed over her eye that would Change with her, a tight white t-shirt, tight black yoga pants and kung-fu slippers, clenching and unclenching her sweaty fists and breathing abnormally heavy – she was nervous. When Jaklyn was nervous, strange things started happening. Her breathing wouldn't come evenly, her muscles would twitch sporadically, and her senses would flux on and off, not unlike a light. Silence and Mina had walked her down to the Danger Room fifteen minutes ago, and now, they were up in the observation deck with Storm and all the mutant students who had decided to take in the show; Jaklyn hadn't any time between classes and dinner and now to have any vodka to calm her nerves.

"I… I-I-I'm not sure… Storm, I don't think I'm ready…" She shook her dark locks. _Come on Jaklyn… You can do this… You __**have**__ to do this. _

"Take a minute Jaklyn, but not too long. I have another class in here in an hour and you've got to get through the entire simulation at least once."

Storm wasn't been cruel, or forceful, she was merely doing her job, and Jaklyn knew that. She sighed once more, the nervousness ebbing slightly. "Storm, can you run me through the objectives again? Just to make sure I know exactly what I'm doing."

"You're running Wolf - Assault 101. A program the Professor and Jean designed for you after your conversations and tests. You'll be fighting in a forest scenario, and there are five objectives for you fulfill; first and foremost, surviving until the final checkpoint. You will start off in human form, using only your hands, feet and acrobatics to disable your opponents. At the first checkpoint, you will have to find your knives. Once you have your weapons, you proceed to the next checkpoint, where you finally turn into your wolf form. Your harnesses are made of a special material that will conceal the weapon and change it with you. So once you find your weapons, fix the straps to your body and proceed." Storm paused, no doubt reading over the outline for the simulation. "Through the entire program, you will have to destroy five guards – you'll recognize them when you see them. They look different from the others," she added hastily. "You will also have to destroy five transmitters. These will also be fairly easy to spot." Another pause. "Are you ready now Jaklyn?"

_As ready as I'll ever be, probably. I am so going to fail. Damn, I wish I had some vodka. _Even though she was unsure that she would be able to Change when she had to, she nodded. "Yeah. Let's get this bleeding thing over with."

There was no gunshot or buzzer, but as the forest solidified itself around her like the hallways had earlier that day, she knew she was supposed to start. She ran into the foliage, her sharp eye revolving, checking for any guards or transmitters, and her ears and nose worked with her wolf senses to tell her if anyone was coming. The first pack of robots came tumbling through the undergrowth, not even close to quietly. The noise and threat sent adrenaline thundering through her veins and, since she wasn't expected to change yet, Jaklyn was more than ready to kick her nerves in the ass as she met the robots. She growled and jumped up into the air, grabbing a tree branch and kicking the nearest robot in the head and sending him flying backwards into his companions. Still hanging like a monkey, she propelled her body forward, kicking two other guards backwards. She launched herself forward, landing on the fallen mechanical beings, and promptly began disabling them to the point of no return. In a flash, Jaklyn took off, hurtling over fallen logs, low hanging branches and undergrowth with the grace of an athlete.

* * *

Up in the observation room, students and teachers alike were watching in astonishment. All except Jean and the Professor, of course, who both knew that Jaklyn's problems lay only with Changing and not having the upper hand in battle. The robots she was currently facing were no match for her and she took them out easily. The simulation was designed this way to give her confidence for the upcoming battles with the guards; they were much, much tougher than the other robots.

The hope was that, since she didn't have to Change, she would be able to take out the tougher robots and then the Change would come by itself as she fought on.

That was the hope.

* * *

A short distance ahead, a glowing blue light shimmered out from between the leaves. It was the first of the transmitters Jaklyn was supposed to be destroying.There was a sudden clinking noise that sent Jaklyn's senses flying and brought her agile form to a halt. A troop of Danger Room robots swarmed out of the brushes ahead of her, flanked by a taller, bigger robot. Whose armour was… purple? Oh well. Ignoring the distracting colour, Jaklyn threw a powerful roundhouse followed by a back kick, taking out the first two of the brown robots to reach her, and felled the next few with quick, savage punches and jabs.

Jaklyn was surprising herself and not just the people she knew were watching. Sure, she had taken a few martial arts classes when she had been younger, but she hadn't expected the knowledge to stick with her. Apparently, it had. She also hadn't expected herself able to fight this long, but she no longer found herself afraid or nervous – not yet, anyways. When the time came to Change, the story would probably change.

The larger robot ambled towards her, glowing red eyes trained on their target and arm raised; instead of a hand at the end, there was a high-powered laser gun. Immediately, Jaklyn ducked and swung her leg, catching the robot's knees and knocking it over. She somersaulted over the fallen contraption and lunged for the transmitter, hitting it squarely in the centre with a massive punch. As the pieces flew around her, the guard rose behind her and stole after her. Jaklyn grabbed a long metal piece from the transmitter off the ground and swung it hard and true, hitting the robot in the side of the neck joint and nearly breaking it clean off. Grinning, Jaklyn ran on, senses alert for any more robots, guards or transmitters.

She was having fun.

* * *

"It almost looks as if she's having fun," Bobby remarked, leaning closer to the glass.

"Yeah, it's way different than how she acted this morning." Silence peered down at her friend and watched in quietly for a moment as she pummeled her way through a section of the simulation. Her eyes slid up and across the group of spectators to where Piotr and Kitty were standing. Kitty looked a little bored, but Piotr's attention was completely on the young woman below them. _Hm, that's interesting… _"Mina, what do you think has got her acting so differently?" she asked, not moving her eyes from the big Russian.

Puzzled, Mina followed Silence's gaze, and then answered her friend's question. "Well, it's probably because she doesn't have to Change yet. As soon as she does, things could take a turn."

Silence nodded and then looked back down at Jaklyn. Secretly, she wanted to see her transform, wanted to see what the wolf form had to offer. _Come on Jak, you can do it. You can complete the simulation._

* * *

She went through the ordeal of one more transmitter and two more guards before she reached the first checkpoint, which consisted of a small canopy; Jaklyn rested for a very brief moment, trying to regain some of the energy she had lost. Exhaustion was starting to pull at her. When she felt revived enough to start again, she began to scan the area. One sniff told Jaklyn there were no robots in the area so she began a slow search for her weapons. One knife was under a rock nearby. Jaklyn strapped it to her right calf before setting off in search of her other knife. The tools, as Storm had explained before the simulation began, were to protect herself when she was in human form and found herself unable to Change or in a situation where Changing wasn't a good idea.

_I'm doing pretty well, _she thought as she stretched out her right leg. It had become rather stiff and she didn't want it locking up on her or anything. _I can do this… _Even as she thought that, nervousness began to creep back into her system. At the next checkpoint, she would have to Change, and she didn't know if she could. _Don't think about that right now, _she told herself. _Get through the next section and then worry about Changing. One step at a time – that's how I'll get through this alive. That's how I'll pass. That's how I'll get over my fear of Changing. One step at a time. _

Chanting the mantra over and over in her head, she swiftly climbed into a tree and began snaking her way through the closely interlocking branches of the forest around her. A group of robots was standing idly, waiting to catch her signature, but she thought less conflict was better, so she tried to avoid him. Luckily, she succeeded and made it to the next transmitter, where the next guard stood alone, head swiveling around, looking for her. She seized one of her knives and threw it towards the guard's head, hoping that it would fly true. It buried itself into the exposed wires on its neck, and after a moment, the guard tumbled forward. Jaklyn waited. The other robots didn't come running, so she dropped down behind the transmitter and drove her hand into the middle of it, twisting and annihilating the electrical insides.

She grabbed her knife from the robot, and then she ran quickly away.

The next checkpoint loomed on her and she gratefully sat down underneath the canopy and hung her head.

* * *

"What's she doing?" Mina asked, pressing her nose against the window. "She's only allowed to rest for a minute. Robots will come if she's there any longer, and she left that one group back there."

"Relax Mina," John said, placing a hand on her back and leaning on the window beside her.

She opened her mouth and looked at him. "I… I'm just worried." Mina turned again and looked at Jaklyn, who was still sitting with her head hung and not moving. "She's not going to be able to Change in time. She's only got twelve seconds left."

"She'll be fine."

But Mina wasn't the only one who was worried. Silence was rabidly chewing her lip and Piotr, standing on the other side of Silence, was not moving his eyes from the holo-chamber below. Storm, at the control station, was also on edge. Many people wanted Jaklyn to continue, to get over her fears. Some were just curious to see her powers, to see why her programs were called "Wolf".

* * *

Jaklyn groaned and grabbed her hair in white-knuckled fists. _You've got to Change… There's no one down here. They're all up in the observation desk, watching me, waiting for me to change… _She stood up and faced the forest, the way she was supposed to go. _No one is down here to get hurt. No one will get hurt. _She set her jaw and prepared her body for the jerking change. _All right, Jaklyn, just give yourself over to the urge. _

A monstrous clanking arose behind her and she knew her rest time was up and the robots surrounding the area were coming to get her. Now she _had_ to Change. A feral roar escaped her mouth as her bones began to shift. The robots were on her before the Change was complete, grabbing at her fur and jostling her, trying to contain her.

The Change completed in mid-air and she descended on the robots all teeth and claws.

Quicker than any one of the spectators could register, Jaklyn was off and running through the vegetation, leaving a pile of broken robots behind her.

* * *

Piotr watched Jaklyn's simulation for a few more minutes before he headed down to the Danger Room door, holding a large towel in his hand. He knew that Jaklyn would be naked when she Changed back; that is, unless the Professor had managed to develop a full outfit that Changed with her. He doubted it, so he was prepared to cover her as soon as she came out.

When the doors finally did hiss open, Jaklyn was still in her wolf form. She growled at Piotr, obviously not recognizing him, and began to advance, teeth bared and hackles raised.

"Jaklyn," he whispered, spreading his hands and lowering himself to his knees. "It's all right. There are no more robots. You can Change back now." He kept his voice clam and quiet, even as she continued to growl. He kept eye contact and tried to convey that he meant no harm.

As the other students began to arrive at the door, Jaklyn finally gave into the exhaustion and collapsed on the ground in front of Piotr. Her form began to blur, and just before she completely solidified in her human state, Piotr threw the towel over her and sweat her into his arms keeping her covered. Storm asked him to take Jaklyn back up to her room and take care of her for a few hours. Piotr agreed, apologized to Kitty, and then headed all the way upstairs where he laid Jaklyn on her bed, still wrapped in the towel.

"Piotr?" she nearly croaked, looking at him with her one eye.

"What is it, Jaklyn?"

Tears began to silently fall. "Can you please leave me be? I'll be OK. I don't need anything."

He hesitated. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, the tears still falling. Her eye closed and she turned her head away. Piotr nodded, knowing she didn't want to test her voice further, and then left her alone, shutting the door as silently as possible. He stood for a moment, looking at the door, wondering if he should really leave. Obviously, something was wrong.

_No. This is something she has to deal with on her own, Piotr._

* * *

_I'm an animal… I'm nothing more than some __**savage**__ animal… _Jaklyn bit her lip, trying to suppress the bestial feelings still bubbling in her – the feelings she always got when she Changed. _I can't Change anymore. I'll loose control eventually… _She sobbed loudly, clinging to the towel covering her scarred body. _I can't do it anymore… _

She reached under her bed and seized the chill glass of the vodka bottle and put it to her lips, savouring the biting taste as it poured down her throat.

* * *

"It is going to take some time for her to get used to her powers, Jean. She hasn't had any guidance or support, and she doesn't have the easiest power to deal with." Professor X sighed, pinching his nose between his forefinger and thumb. "The only thing I can suggest is if you and Storm work with her one-on-one until she gets used to Changing and she gains some control of her powers."

"I think including her in some of the more simple simulations that wouldn't require her to Change would be a good idea, too, Professor."

"You're right – get her used to working around other people." He sighed again.

"Are you all right?" Jean asked, very concerned about her old friend, her mentor, her teacher.

"I knew taking Jaklyn in was going to be difficult, but it's proving harder than I thought it would. You and Storm better enlist Silence and Mina and possibly Bobby and Piotr too. Keep her grouped with people she's comfortable with."

"Professor, I'm sure that Jaklyn will adjust soon. This is just a huge change for her, and we only have one other shape-shifting mutant here to help her. And Mina's much more advanced in her powers, and I don't think she gets the thoughts Jaklyn does. With Jaklyn, it's almost if part of her brain _is _an animal. It's going to take a lot to get over that, especially because she's so afraid of that part of her. But, she _can_ control those thoughts. I know she can."


	7. Chapter Seven : Illegal Attraction

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Seven / _Illegal Attraction _

* * *

Things began to improve for Jaklyn after that first solo Danger Room session. She began to work with Storm and Jean in one-on-one sessions to develop her mutations and control her powers, and the animalistic thoughts that had once plagued her so were subsiding, and she could almost feel herself becoming whole; mentally anyways. She could now Change at will, and was confident in doing so, and she had begun martial arts training as well as knife combat training. Jaklyn had also settled into her classes and her marks had risen dramatically from her beginning. She had developed a confidence in herself and was starting to feel like a normal teenager; besides the ability to shift into a wolf, obviously; she still drank her vodka, although, she wasn't finding as much of a need for it, but she still hadn't stopped. Did she want to?

In the almost four weeks she had been at the mansion, she had managed to learn a lot about the people around her, on top of all she had learned about herself.

Silence and John, for example, could actually work as a devastatingly effective team when they wanted to. She had seen them do it. She had seen them run through a Danger Room course in less than two minutes; a Danger Room course that took Jean and Scott four minutes to do. They had perfected techniques that amplified both their powers, and they could fill the entire Danger Room with white-hot flames, apparently. But, that was only when they wanted to, which was only when they were getting along, which was hardly ever. When it did happen, though, it was spectacular. Jaklyn had only heard about that feat from Mina, and she was told not to get her hopes up to see it anytime soon, as Silence's current boyfriend set John's teeth on edge every time he was around.

Silence's boyfriend's name was Jaime Madrox, and he was a mutant as well – Multiple Man. He could make copies of himself that were completely individual, except that they all looked alike. And he could retain anything any of the copies learned. He had the foundations to become an incredibly smart and well-rounded man in his future, but, he seemed to have a knack for causing and getting into trouble . Jaklyn got to meet him two days after her solo Danger Room session and she thought he was _perfect_ for Silence. They both had enough attitude for three people and were both blessed with energy and a passion for life. Jaklyn actually quite liked Jaime and got along well with him right off the bat.

Jaklyn had confirmed strong suspicions that Mina and John were dating at well, as she caught them smooching in the hallway between classes on day, and that couple struck her as odd, but she didn't say anything. She was happy for them. She wanted the same. From Silence, she learned that her brother's relationship with her friend was rocky a lot of the time, but they were generally good to each other and managed to work all of their problems out. Silence had also told her of John's insane jealousy a few months ago when Mina had been dating a human named Ron. Jaklyn thought that having Pyro jealous would be a bad thing. Silence seemed to find it terribly amusing. Ah, sisterly love.

The most fascinating thing Jaklyn learned about was Professor Xavier's X-Men.

Jean, Scott, Ororo, a man named Hank McCoy or Beast, and a man named Logan or Wolverine, made up this team, headed by Professor X. Beast didn't actually live at the mansion and he hadn't gone on a mission with the team for a while, but he was still welcome and would join in when they really needed him to. Currently, Jaklyn was informed, he was working on mutant-human relations with the United States government. The X-Men helped protect New York and the world from mutant threats and provided protection to mutants who needed it. They had a wide network of mutant and non-mutant contacts all over the world, and all of the information was processed through the subbasement, which was were the Danger Room and the infirmary were located. Bobby, Rogue, Silence, John, Mina, Piotr, Kitty, and now Jaklyn, were in training to become X-Men one day, and to take over the teaching positions at the school. The entire mansion, subbasement and all, was a well-oiled machine that most outside the gates knew about. To everyone else, it was just a prestigious private school.

Jaklyn had begun two paintings in her three and a half weeks and was nearing completion on one of them: a landscape of the view from her tower window. Piotr had begun to spend more time in her room, watching her paint, and on some days, they would paint together. She had begun to sketch more, under inspiration of Piotr's wonderful pencil drawings, and had started a series of pencil portraits of the other inhabitants of the mansion that she planned to display in the main library for all of the students and teachers to see. She was finally proud enough of something to show it off.

Presently, she was putting the finishing touching on the preliminary sketch of Jaime. "Hold still, you git."

Jaime purposely squirmed a bit on the couch and then produced a copy of himself, and stood up, walking around in a circle. "Why? Are you going to turn my portrait into a mess if I don't?" He looked at his copy. "Sit still." The copy shrugged and he laughed and then sighed, rejoining the copy and taking his spot back on the couch. "I don't even know why I agreed to do this. I don't live here, so why should I be a part of your 'series'?"

"Because you've been around a lot in the past couple weeks. You're my friend's boyfriend. Like it or not, you agreed and you're going to sit still so I can finish the sketches."

"Why did you want the 'real' me anyways?"

Jaklyn shrugged. "Artist's thing. I didn't want to sketch a copy."

He sighed again, but sat still. It only took Jaklyn fifteen more minutes, and then, once she had his approval, set him free. Jaime apologized by ruffling her hair and telling her he looked like a freak in her drawing but he was sure she could fix it, and then headed outside where Silence was swimming with one of his copies so he could gather himself up and have some fun with his girlfriend. Jaklyn put away her drawing tools and looked at her watch. She grimaced and ran outside to the pool where she was supposed to meet Piotr to practice reading _Macbeth_. They had agreed to meet ten minutes ago.

"Sorry," she breathed, sliding onto the lounge chair and folding her legs underneath her. "I had to finish Jaime's preliminary sketch."

"It's OK."

Jaklyn dug her copy of the play out of her shoulder bag and flicked some of her hair out of her face. Piotr's eyes subconsciously followed her movements and he noticed something strange, something different. Jaklyn, for the first time during her stay at the mansion, wasn't wearing her scarf over the left side of her face. Her scars were exposed.

"Jaklyn… You're not wearing your scarf."

She looked up from flipping through the play and the look on her face spoke nothing of the embarrassed girl she had been before. "Yeah, I didn't feel like wearing it today. What of it?" Her voice was a little stand-offish and, as she realized, Jaklyn smiled at him. "No. I'm not wearing it today and I don't think I'll wear it ever again, actually. Those Danger Room sessions are doing wonders for my confidence." She smiled at him a little longer, a hint of a blush working its way into her cheeks.

"That's good." Piotr looked down at his open book and said almost to himself, "You look better without it."

Jaklyn's blush darkened, unbeknownst to Piotr, and she bent lower, staring intently at her book. "Which scene were we doing again?"

Piotr took the change of subject smoothly and the two proceeded into reading from _Macbeth_. Jaklyn had a fairly easy time of reading the old English, but she had always been good with Shakespeare. Piotr, on the other hand, was having difficulty reading it, even if he did understand every word he was reading. The pair seemed to move seamlessly into the roles they read and everything went well until Piotr tripped over a line, sending them both into bouts of laughter. The other students outside only spared passing glances at them before moving on in whatever they were doing. After they calmed down and were ready to finish the scene, Jaklyn looked up at Piotr and found him smiling at her in a way he never had before.

"What?" she said, feeling herself start to blush again.

Piotr gazed at her a moment longer and then shook his head, seemingly clearing whatever thoughts had been there. "Nothing. It is nothing. Let's finish." And he began to read again, leaving Jaklyn wondering what had just happened.

* * *

"Coming in!" Mina hip-checked the door open and laughed as Jaklyn jumped. "What's got you so jumpy?" she asked, placing a tray of cookies that looked freshly-baked on the bed. "Tell me all; I have cookies."

Jaklyn gazed out the window a moment longer and Mina was just about to get up and see what was so interesting out the window when her friend moved to sit on the bed with her. "I think I may have a problem," she said, absentmindedly picking at one of the moist chocolate chip banana cookies that were Mina's specialties. "I think I may have a _boy _problem… Can I trust you not to tell anyone?"

"You make it sound like it's a life or death situation – of course you can trust me." She took a big bite of cookie. _Who could it possibly be? Not Jaime, that's for sure. I mean, he's cute, but Silence would tear her apart. Then… Pete and Bobby are the only other guys she's been hanging around with… _"I won't tell anyone Jaki. Promise."

Jaklyn smiled and then looked over her shoulder, out the window. Without saying anything, she got to her feet and walked over there, once again staring out at something – _someone _– that Mina couldn't see. Finally, she got to her feet and walked over there too, and following her friend's one-eyed gaze, found the object of her friend's attentions. She smiled to herself, knowing her suspicions had been right. Mina placed a hand on Jaklyn's shoulder, but she moved away and sat down in front of the painting she had started.

"I didn't want to get a crush on him, Mina. He's already dating Kitty and she's my friend."

"Just because you have a crush on him doesn't mean you have to act right away." She paused. "If it's meant to be it'll happen, Jaki. Just wait and see."

"Yeah, like I was ever meant to be with someone as great as him."

"Jaki, don't worry about it. Just act like you have been around him, and everything will be fine. Kitty's a great friend, just keep that in mind." _I __**knew **__she was going to get a crush on Pete! They just fit together… _"Everything will be fine," she repeated, giving her friend a hug. "Now, enjoy your cookies. I've got to go and find John. We're supposed to be going to the movies tonight."

Jaklyn nodded and watched Mina leave. Mina couldn't shake the feeling that Jaklyn was glad she had left then, and she had the momentary urge to fling the door open after she shut it. But she didn't. If she had though, she would have found Jaklyn sitting at her easel, with her bottle of vodka pressed to her lips and her eyes closed, savouring the fire in her throat. As it was, Mina headed downstairs to find her boyfriend so she could insist they go to the late show so they could get dinner first. It had been so long since they'd had a proper date…

* * *

Once she had a sufficient buzz, Jaklyn re-wrapped the bottle in an old sweater and shoved it back under the bed. She picked up her brushes and stared at the trees in her painting. After a moment of deliberation, she pressed the brush into the olive green watercolour puck and began daubing patches of the colour into the foliage.

"I'm not supposed to like him," she mumbled.

- some emerald green to help pick up highlights.

"I'm not _allowed _to like him."

- some yellow-green to finish highlights on the leaves.

"He's taken."

- switching to blue to add clouds to the sky.

"Not _allowed._"


	8. Chapter Eight : Boy Troubles

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Eight / _Boy Troubles_

* * *

Jaklyn, Mina and Silence were having boy troubles.

_Haha, I have boy troubles. Of all people, __**me**__, the girl who hasn't had a social life since she was fourteen. _Jaklyn stared blankly at the painting on her easel in front of her. She was almost finished; to the untrained eye, the painting would have _looked _complete, but there were highlights and shadows missing and Jaklyn was _never _finished until _everything _was done. But, right now, she couldn't finish it. Angrily, she tossed her brush and palette onto her little table and flopped backwards on the bed. Her hand wandered under her pillow and pulled out the almost-empty bottle of vodka. She took a quick sip and replaced it. She had one other bottle hidden, but she didn't know how she'd get more when she was finished, so she was drinking what remained slowly. _I hate boys…_

Since she had admitted her feelings to Mina, all she had been able to think about was Piotr. His face was always lingering in her mind, and he was always pressing into what she was doing. She had become rather fond of the Danger Room sessions and was unable to complete one because of her feelings – she had "died" three times in her sessions this week, two of which had been in the group session with Piotr. Jaklyn wished she could tell him how she felt, but he was with Kitty, and she didn't want to hurt her friend, especially when she was sure Kitty was already mad at her.

"I never thought I'd have boy problems," she muttered, sitting back up and staring past her painting, out the window. _Maybe I can find a book to amuse me for a while in the library… _

* * *

"My God John, just stop your complaining." Mina threw the television remote at her boyfriend, fed up with his whining about the shows she was flicking past. "You find something to watch then, and watch it yourself! I'm tired of listening to you." She stormed from the living room, ignoring his calls of protest. "Stupid John," she muttered, heading towards the library, where she had seen Jaklyn about an hour ago – Mina was sure she'd still be there. Indeed, her friend was curled up in a comfy-looking chair in front of a wide window. "Jaki."

Jaklyn looked up from her book and smiled. "What's up, Mina?"

Mina sat down with a huff on the windowsill, causing the smile to fade from her friend's face. "John."

The book was forgotten. "Are you two arguing again? That's all you've been bloody doing this week." Jaklyn didn't bother hiding her disapproval. "What's wrong with you two?"

"He just seems so unhappy and I can't stand it. _Nothing _I do makes him any happier. All he does is complain now and it sends me up the wall." Mina crossed her arms under her breasts and sighed heavily. "All I can do is yell because he won't listen to me talk. And Silence and Jaime are fighting, so I'm irritated anyways, because I have to hear all about that. And you. Well, you have your own issues, and that irritates me because I can't help."

Jaklyn laughed a bit and then leaned forward and embraced her friend. "Don't worry about me. I'll deal. Sure I can barely concentrate on anything and I've died a lot in Danger Room sessions this week, but I'll be fine. I'll _live_. As for Silence and Jaime… Well, I actually don't know much about that, but I wouldn't let that bother you. Silence can handle herself." Jaklyn paused. "If Si and Jaime break up, John might be a little happier. He hates him." She earned a smile from Mina, and then said, "Concentrate on your own problems, Mina. Fix things with you and John. And don't let him complain."

"I walk away."

"Don't do that. Try and do things he won't complain about."

"I have been! He complains about everything. _Everything._"

Jaklyn hugged her friend again. "Then I can't help you. I have my own problems to worry about and I've never been in your situation. You're on your own, love."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Oh gee. Thanks."

"No problem," Jaklyn answered sarcastically.

After saying goodbye, Mina got to her feet and wandered through the book shelves for a while, idly thinking about what book she should read next; she had finished the fantasy series she'd been reading and didn't know where to go next. Her eyes drifted back over to Jaklyn. _The poor girl, _she thought. _She can't even paint or read for very long. She's so distracted. _Mina shook her head and left the library, heading towards the kitchen. _Maybe I'll bake John some cookies. They are his favourite… No, he'd still find something to complain about. _

"Mina, have you seen Jaime around?"

"No Si, I haven't. I didn't even know he was here."

"Piss-bitch," she murmured as she pushed passed Mina.

Again Mina rolled her eyes. _Thanks for the concern Silence. _She knew she was being a little selfish because Silence was obviously having her own problems, but she still couldn't help feeling a little betrayed and let down. Mina decided that heading back to the living room and talking to John would be the best option. He was still sulking when she found him in the same spot she'd left him.

* * *

"_I_ am not cheating on you, Si."

She slapped him again. Silence had finally caught up with Jaime in the backyard, and after making sure it was the real, the original, him, she had proceeded to accuse and abuse him. "And what about your copies, huh?" Flames flickered in her crimson eyes. "What are they doing? Where are they all right now? And why the hell have you been making up lies when I ask you to come over?"

"How do you know I'm lying?"

"Because Pete saw you robbing a convenience store when you told me you were studying for a test!" Her eyes flared again. "You're lucky Pete's such a nice guy and didn't turn you in, because I'm sure the cops wouldn't have been very nice to a mutant criminal." Silence crossed her arms and put her weight on one leg, causing her hip to stick out dramatically. "Now tell me the truth, Jaime." Her voice had become dangerously low. "The _whole _truth."

The black-haired man sighed and looked at the ceiling. "I've decided to use my powers in _beneficial _ways."

"So you've become a criminal?"

He sighed again, and that was as much of a yes as Silence needed. She slapped him across the face instead of on the arm as she had been. Tears blossomed in her eyes, and faint trails of steam began to rise; her body temperature increased when she was angry. "I don't believe you, Jaime."

"Oh come on, Si. It's not like you've never thought about using your powers to gain things for yourself."

"There's a difference! I've never actually done it, and I never will."

He stepped towards her. "I'm not hurting anyone, Si. I promise." He tried to put his hands on her arms, but she pushed him away and turned her back. "Si…"

"Have you or any of your copies been with another woman while we've been dating?"

It took a while to answer, and Silence's thoughts drifted towards the negative, and her spirits were not lifted. "Yes," Jaime said quietly.

Silence heard the regret in his voice, but she spun around and punched him hard, hitting the nerve between his shoulder and his upper arm with her knuckles. As he stepped back, wincing and holding his arm, Silence yelled, "You _fucking _bastard!" Her eyes flared and flames erupted around her hands; steam billowed from her eyes were her tears were rapidly evaporating in the heat from her flesh. "_GET AWAY FROM ME!" _she screamed, falling to her knees, as he stepped towards her, trying to calm her down but wisely avoiding vain apologies.

Bobby, who chose then to walk past, heading to the living room where Rogue was no doubt waiting, pushed Jaime away and cast a torrent of ice over her. The ice melted into water and extinguished the flames jumping from Silence's body. She fell forward, sobbing, and Bobby knelt, pulling his friend's head onto his knee, and shot Jaime a deadly glare.

"Fine. I'll go."

And he left.

Silence cried harder and Bobby winced. He had never seen Silence so upset – no one had. "I'm so sorry it had to happen like that Silence," he whispered, giving her wet shoulder a comforting squeeze. Silence pressed her face into Bobby's leg and sobbed a thank you.

* * *

Mina was wandering the mansion again when she found Silence, a soaking wet heap, leaning on Bobby and sobbing. Forgetting all her problems – her last argument with John, which had been over what they were going to for their planned outing that night – she ran to her friend's side and took her form from Bobby. The smaller girl took her larger friend's weight and held her as she cried, pushing wet strands of red hair from her face. Mina was greatly unsettled, just as Bobby had been, with Silence's display, but she held her tightly.

"What happened?" she asked Bobby very quietly.

"Jaime."

Silence sobbed loudly and suddenly seemed to gather herself together. She sat up, wiping her red and swollen eyes. "I'm sorry…" She smiled sadly and then turned to Bobby. "Thanks for cooling me down, Iceman."

He offered an empathetic half-smile. "No problem, Blaze."

Silence hugged her friend and then she and Mina headed towards the library where it was quiet and Mina could be filled in on what had happened. Mina grabbed a towel from a bathroom they passed and tossed it over Silence's head. Jaklyn was still in the library when they got there.

"So tell me what happened."

Jaklyn dropped the book she was reading, which was a different book than before. "What happened?"

Silence sniffled and smiled, wiping away the rest of her tears. "Jaime… he's…" She shook her head and huffed. "He's being corrupted by his powers…"

* * *

Jaime put his heads in his hands and sighed heavily. What was he doing? He didn't really know what was happening to him. It seemed that the more knowledge his copies brought back, the more his life seemed pointless and boring and his copies had started to bring back knowledge of robberies and other things that could make him feel more alive; he didn't have much control over what his copies did when he was away from him, and even though he knew they were spending time with different women, and he… _thought _he wanted to stop them… _Do I really want to stop them? _He sighed again and leaned backwards, titling his head back over the back of the bench.

"What the hell did you do to my friend? Silence never cries like that."

He opened his eyes and looked up at Jaklyn, who was standing over him, looking down with her hands on her hips. "I'm going to guess you already know what happened and you're just bothering me."

"Jaime, what's going on with you?" She sat down on the bench beside him.

"I feel lost, Jak. It's got something – everything – to do with my powers."

"You're smarter than this, Jaime. You really hurt her. Just a few days ago, you two were perfect. I mean, as perfect as you two can be." Jaklyn looked down at her hands. "You and Silence had something I admired… that I wanted," she added as an afterthought. Her head snapped up, and she blushed. "Sorry. This isn't about my problems."

"I still care about her, Jak, but I'm going to keep hurting her."

"Should I tell her you've gone then?"

He nodded and she got up and left.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with Silence?" John asked as Mina and he walked down the street, heading towards their favourite restaurant. They had decided to go out for dinner and maybe catch a late movie. For now, things were calm between them. "She was standing in front of the window, just staring out at nothing in particular."

Mina sighed and squeezed John's hand. She wasn't sure if she should tell him. John hadn't liked Jaime at all, and she didn't want him taking pleasure in his sister's pain, although she knew the siblings had soft spots for each other in times like these as they were the only family each other had left. After a momentary inner struggle, Mina decided that John had a right to know. "Her and Jaime broke up today," she said quietly. "Silence is hurt bad, John. She was crying uncontrollably when it happened. Bobby had to drench her in ice."

John was silent for a moment as they walked, his eyes fixed straight ahead, and his breaths becoming a little quicker. There was anger in his eyes and his grip tightened subconsciously on Mina's hand. She heard his lighter clicking in his other hand.

"We should go back to mansion after dinner, Mina."

The unspoken: "I want to make sure my sister is OK." John would never say that out loud, but, around Mina, he didn't have to.


	9. Chapter Nine : Friends Lost

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Nine / _Friends Lost_

* * *

When Jaklyn awoke the next morning – a typical and bright fall morning – the mansion seemed to be in some sort of confused uproar. She could hear running footsteps and shouts and slamming doors beneath her. Confused herself, Jaklyn changed into a pair of loose black track pants and a cobalt blue tank top, slipped on her fuzzy black slippers, brushed her hair and headed down the stairs, a little afraid of what she might find. When she reached the third floor of the mansion, she was almost bowled over by a frazzled-looking Mina.

"Oh sorry Jaklyn," she stammered as she tried to push past her friend to head to the end of the hallway.

"Mina." Jaklyn grabbed her around the upper arm. "What the hell has got everyone in a bloody panic?" she asked.

"It's Si," she breathed, finally finding a moment to catch the breath she'd lost in running all over the mansion. "She's… She's gone, Jaki." Tears appeared in the corners of Mina's eyes and she wiped them away. "She disappeared at some point in the night. I woke up once and she was gone – her bed empty and her dresser drawers all open and clothes all over the place." She looked at Jaklyn, allowing her friend to see the panic in her crystal blue eyes. "No one can find her."

The same panic that was no doubt gripping everyone else in the mansion took Jaklyn's heart and made her breath catch in her throat. She let go of Mina and instantly tore down the hallway, shouting for her friend. At some point in her throwing open of doors and screaming desperately, Jaklyn realized she'd never had anyone to care about this much, and, despite the fear, she smiled. The moment was gone almost instantly though and she continued in the search for the red-headed teenager. On the main floor, Jaklyn spotted John standing in front of a large window, looking out with a distant look in his eyes.

"John?" Jaklyn went over to stand beside him. "Are you OK?" she asked timidly, afraid of how he might react to the question.

To Jaklyn's surprise, he only sighed. "You might as well stop looking, Jaklyn. Silence isn't on the grounds anywhere. She's probably in New York City by now. She's always wanted to go to the city."

A little startled by this side of John she and no one but Mina ever saw, she left him alone with his thoughts. Of course she had assumed John cared about his sister, but, because of his normal demeanor, she hadn't expected to ever see that emotion displayed publicly; for the first time, Jaklyn was seeing something that might have attracted Mina. As she walked away, Jaklyn had a thought, and headed towards the Professor's office. Halfway there, she met him in the hallway and he smiled warmly at her.

"I suppose you've come to ask me to use Cerebro to find Silence?"

Jaklyn flushed a bit and nodded. "I've heard about your machine, and I was hoping you wouldn't mind using it to find her."

"Not at all – I was actually on my way to the subbasement to do just that. Why don't you come with me?"

Jaklyn nodded and followed the Professor at a walk. Dimly, she wondered why they weren't in more of a hurry, and as soon as she had finished thinking that thought, she was answered telepathically. The Professor knew she was still alive, so there was no need to hurry. All they had to do was find where she was. As they entered the blue-ish subbasement, the Professor also informed Jaklyn that he had no intention of sending a team to pick up Silence. He trusted her not to do anything rash or stupid, and knew that she would come back to the mansion when she was ready – she probably just needed some time to herself. Jaklyn had complete confidence in the Professor and smiled when he told her this. She agreed with his assessment of Silence one hundred percent.

The chamber that was Cerebro was more massive than Jaklyn could have ever imagined. She walked slowly behind the Professor to a circular platform on the end of a suspended pathway, her eye roaming the spherical chamber, taking in the sheer majesty of something so big.

"Stand perfectly still, Jaklyn." Professor Xavier pulled a sleek helmet over his bald head and closed his eyes. Instantly, a map of the world appeared with points of red light scattered about it. "Each one of those lights is a mutant, Jaklyn, and this one-" he closed his eyes again, and the map zoomed into the area of the United States which Jaklyn knew to be New York State, and then one dot popped up from the map and resolved into the familiar form of Silence "-is Silence." His eyes opened and Jaklyn saw the corner of his mouth twitch in a smile. "She's in downtown New York, heading towards Central Park by the looks of things. She's fine."

"Thank you Professor," Jaklyn said. _Pyro was right, _she thought. _They must have some sort of sibling telepathy or something. _"I'll let Mina know."

"No need. I've informed everyone already."

Jaklyn smiled and the holographic image of the world disappeared, leaving them once again in the massive chamber. The Professor removed the helmet and the pair left the room, the doors closing with a hiss behind them.

* * *

The leaves in the park were starting to darken to shades of red, gold and brown. Silence smiled to herself as she walked into Central Park, her head bobbing slightly in time with the music coming from the headphones of her iPod. She had taken a bus into the city, and now, well, she didn't really know what she was going to do. She had a decent amount of money and had raided the kitchen for food easy to carry. She also had a couple changes of clothes and most of what a teenage girl would call necessary – brush, deodorant and some makeup included.

She had picked up a map of the city, and planned to do some sight-seeing on her own walking tour, but first, she wanted to have something to eat. She found a hot dog stand and grabbed herself a couple, slathered them with ketchup, bought a can of pop as well, and then found a bench to sit on and enjoy her lunch.

As she was eating, she realized with a pang, that she already missed Mina and Jaklyn. With an even bigger pang, she realized she missed her brother.

* * *

"Hey Piotr," Jaklyn, said, sliding onto the couch beside the big Russian. "What are you sketching?" He tilted his sketchbook so she could see. It was a sketch of Kitty, who Jaklyn then realized, was sitting in front of the window across the room, looking rather dejected. "Is she all right?" she asked.

Piotr shrugged. "I do not know. She won't tell me what's wrong, no matter how many times I ask." He looked at Jaklyn sadly. "So I stopped asking."

"Oh… I didn't even notice she was upset, what with all that bloody racket this morning."

He nodded and then looked at his sketch. After a moment, he placed it on the table and then smiled at Jaklyn. "I bet you are glad that Silence is all right. I know Mina was very relieved when she got the Professor's message. She kind of fell to the floor and then she started crying – out of happiness of course. John was relieved too," he added as an afterthought. "Although, he didn't actually say so."

Jaklyn smiled. "Yeah, when the Professor located her, I was very glad she was all right. That was some situation to wake up to this morning though."

The pair fell into silence, and Piotr's gaze drifted back over to Kitty, a worried look making its way into his features. Jaklyn found herself looking at her friend differently then she had before; for the past while, ever since she'd realized her crush on him, she'd been trying to act normally, but she had always blushed whenever he was around and had tended to act more shy then normal unless someone else was around. She was looking at him with an artistic eye, observing the way his shirt draped over his arms and very well-developed chest and abdomen muscles. But she was also looking at his face and seeing the most heart-wrenching display of care and worry there. Suddenly, Jaklyn felt very guilty about her feelings and she looked away, blushing deeply.

_What am I doing…? _"Piotr, I think you should go over and talk to her again," she said quietly. "I think Kitty probably needs you right now."

"She always pushes away from me, Jaklyn."

"I still think you should go over and be with her. She may not want to talk, but she might feel better if you're just… there." Jaklyn kept her gaze on the floor. Guilt was tearing at her insides, because she was thinking how much she would really just want Piotr to be there for her, and she couldn't get the image of sitting curled up in his arms out of her head.

"Look at me Jaklyn," he said instead of following her advice. She, somewhat reluctantly, did as she was told. "Why are you blushing so much?" he asked as if it was the easiest question in the world to answer.

_Oh God, he's figured it out. _"Uhm… it's warm in here."

He half-smiled. "Thank you for the advice. I think I'll follow it." He gave her a one-armed hug and then got to his feet and sat on the couch beside Kitty, and Jaklyn couldn't help watching.

* * *

"I don't want to talk, Peter," Kitty said as her boyfriend sat on the couch beside her.

"You don't have to."

He pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest. Softly, he kissed her head, and he just held her. Kitty closed her eyes and pressed her face into his chest, trying not to cry. She could feel the difference in his feelings towards her – she knew he didn't feel the same as he had before _she _had arrived at the mansion. _She _was, of course, Jaklyn, and while Kitty had thought they could be friends, once she had realized the depth of the history and the connection between her and Peter, she just knew they couldn't be.

But she didn't know how to bring up the topic with Peter or Jaklyn. She knew Peter wouldn't break up with her, because that wasn't the type of guy he was, and she had a feeling Jaklyn wouldn't admit her feelings to Kitty, even though they were rather obvious.

Kitty opened her eyes and looked to where Jaklyn had been sitting beside Peter before and found her still sitting there, trying to inconspicuously look across the room. There was a look of longing on her scarred face and a blush still present in her cheeks. For some reason, this made Kitty rather angry and she pushed away from Peter and walked over to where Jaklyn was seated, not at all enjoying what she was about to be doing.

"Please stop looking at us, Jaklyn," she said.

Jaklyn blushed more. "S-sorry. You just looked so peaceful-"

"Oh cut the crap!" she whispered harshly, not really wanting anyone to hear her. "You have a crush on Peter – everyone knows it!" Jaklyn looked up at her, blushing very, very red, no doubt embarrassed and horrified. "You never stop looking at him, which is really creepy! So, just stop it and get lost!"

Kitty didn't really feel bad as Jaklyn left the room.

* * *

Silence sighed at looked up at the night sky between the tree branches. Even though she couldn't see many stars at all, there was something peaceful in the never-ending span of velvety blue-black stretching out above her. She had spent the day wandering around Central Park and had eaten dinner beside a secluded pond, sharing a piece of bread with ducks and fish that gathered about her feet. She really hadn't made any plans to sleep in a hotel or motel or anything, but as the sun had set, she had contented herself with the idea of sleeping in the park; it's not like she couldn't protect herself, right?

After another moment of staring at the sky, she got to her feet, pulled her leather jacket on over her hooded sweatshirt and hefted her backpack onto her shoulder. She started walking to an area with thicker stands of trees, when a figure standing by the water caught her eye. There was something odd about the shape of its shoulders – almost as if he was hunching over, but the roundness was very exaggerated, almost like he had a backpack beneath his coat, but who would do that? Silence didn't get any bad vibes from the figure, so she continued to walk on until she changed her mind and decided to sleep under one of the old trees by the water. As she sat down, the figure began to walk, and almost subconsciously, she created a small ball of flame in her closed fist. Just in case.

As the figure neared her it paused and changed direction, heading right for her.

"Excuse me," said a timid male voice. "But you wouldn't have the time, would you?"

Silence twisted her hand to look at her watch, and without knowing it, opened her palm, the flames licking at her skin now completely visible. "It's eight – oh shit!" She quickly clenched her hand shut, extinguishing the flames and looked towards the stranger to see what he'd do. She was prepared to run or attack if she had to.

"You're a mutant," he whispered. It was almost a question more than a statement. "It's all right," he said after a moment, realizing that she must have been shocked. "I am too." His voice had dropped lower and Silence almost couldn't hear him. He awkwardly sat down on the ground beside her, pushing whatever was behind his back to one side, and then smiled shakily at her, revealing very white teeth set in a handsome face. "I have wings," he said, pointing to the lump beside him.

Silence sighed inwardly, relieved. "I can create fire." She looked the young man right in his clear blue eyes and returned the smile had had given her. "My name is Silence Allerdyce," she said, knowing she could trust this man. There was nothing violent in his manor. Actually, he seemed very shy and rather introverted.

"Warren Worthington the third," he replied, putting a negative emphasis on the last part.

_Worthington? Where have I heard that name before…? Oh right, he's the guy who owns all those pharmaceutical companies and research labs. He's like super-rich… This must be his son. But what's he doing wandering Central Park at night and why is he in New York? I thought the family was based in San Francisco… _  
"Forgive me for asking, but why are you out so late – by yourself? Shouldn't you have bodyguards or something?"

He laughed a little bitterly. "I snuck out so I could be alone. My father's in New York on business, and he insisted on bringing me along so I could 'learn the family business'. The only trouble with that is I don't want to have anything to do with the family business."

"Ah."

"Why are you out here so late by _your_self?" he asked with a bit of a smirk.

Silence smiled and laughed a bit, running her fingers through her red hair. "To tell you the truth – and I don't really know why I am telling you the truth because we just met – I ran away from home because my ex-boyfriend is a complete ass and has decided to start cheating on me and robbing places, and I just needed to get away. I kind of freaked out and I just… couldn't be around all those people who were going to keep asking me how I was doing and if I was OK and all that shit." Silence paused. "Pardon my language."

"It's OK," Warren said. After a moment, he asked, "Do you live with other mutants?"

"Yeah. At Xavier's School for 'Gifted Youngsters'. You can imagine what 'gifted' actually means." Silence smiled again. "I love it at the mansion, but friends can be tiring some times."

"I… I wouldn't really know."

Silence was kind of startled by the sudden admission. "What? What do you mean?"

"My father is ashamed of me. I've been home-schooled since a little while after my wings first sprouted, which was when I was ten. I'm nineteen now, turning twenty this year, so you can imagine what it was like for me growing up. No one around me could help me with what I was going through, and I knew my father would be ashamed of me, so for the first little while, I used to cut my wings off…"

"Oh my God." Silence was truly horrified. She didn't understand how a parent could treat their own child like that. She placed a hand on Warren's arm. "I'm really sorry for what you had to go through, Warren… I always had my brother with me growing up… We got through everything together."

"Is your brother a mutant too?"

Silence nodded. "He manipulates fire. His name is John. Well, Saint John, but never call him that or he'll go nuts." She smiled mischievously. "I used to do it to bother him. But fire can't hurt me, so it's all right."

Warren smiled too. "I wish my mutation was something I could hide easily."

"I'd love to be able to fly," Silence admitted.

"I'm afraid to admit that I don't even really know what that's like. I was too afraid to fly around my room when I was younger, and I've never flown because I was afraid I might be seen… And my father wouldn't like it."

"Oh my God!" Silence exclaimed again, only this time, it wasn't so much out of horror as disbelief. "I wouldn't even _care _what my parents had to say if I had wings. I'd leap out every window I possibly could! I've always wanted to know what it feels like to fly…" She looked at Warren and blushed a bit. "You should come to the mansion, Warren. There, you'd be free to do whatever you wanted. Jean and Storm and everyone would help you learn how to fly and you could soar around the grounds whenever you wanted. The mansion and its grounds are a completely safe place for mutants – Professor Xavier owns everything and it's a really beautiful place." She looked at the ground. "You should come back with me," she whispered.

Warren didn't say anything for a while. "I… I don't know," he finally said. "I don't know if I could leave my father. I mean… He is my father and I do love him, and I don't want him to worry…"

"No, it's OK. I shouldn't have said that. It's your choice of course, but just know that the mansion's doors are always open to mutants." Silence paused. "God, I feel like a walking brochure." That earned laughter from both of them. "Can I see your wings?" Silence asked cautiously when they had both calmed down.

Warren looked around. "Yes," he said after a moment. "But not… not here."

He got to his feet, and helped Silence to hers and then led the way to the nearby "forest" of Central Park. He found a spot that was suitably dark and secluded, as well as large enough, Silence assumed, and then removed his overcoat. When he turned around, Silence let out a small gasp in astonishment both at the sheer whiteness of the angel-like appendages sticking out of his back and at the harness that held them tightly to his body. Silence stepped forward and placed her hand on his wings and was surprised at how soft the feathers were; she dug her fingers in and smiled. Warren turned to face her and smiled. There was red in his cheeks; he had definitely never had someone actually _like _his wings before. He looked around to make sure there definitely wasn't anyone looking into their clearing and then he undid the harness and extended his wings to their full span and then let them hang naturally behind him. A wild smile lit his entire face, and Silence knew that he probably hadn't undone the harness in a very long time.

Silence laughed in pure kid-like joy and extended her arms as he did so with his wings and then moved to one side so she could run her hand along the silky feathers.

"Silence, were you planning on sleeping in the park tonight?" he asked, his voice quiet and shy.

"Yeah," she said as she continued to stroke his wing.

"Why don't you let me get you a hotel room? No one, even a mutant, should be outside alone at night, let alone asleep in the park."

Silence smiled and pressed her cheek against his wing, realizing then how angelic he looked. "Thank you."

* * *

"Jaklyn, come out of your room!" Mina pounded on the door again. "Please open up!" She sighed and sat down on the floor outside the door. "Come out, please?"

Mina had been trying to get Jaklyn to come out of her room on and off since she had seen her friend run from the living room. Something had happened between Jaklyn and Kitty and Mina had no doubt that whatever Kitty had said to make Jaklyn run like that had had to do with Peter. That had been five hours ago. Mina had heard a bottle break, and when she had tried to force the door open, she had found it locked, and there wasn't enough room in the small hallway of the tower to transform into something that could break the door down. She had also heard crying, but mostly she had heard silence, and that was the most disturbing.

"Jaklyn… Please open the door…" she said feebly.

* * *

Jaklyn was drunk. Not to the point of throwing up, but she was drunk. A broken vodka bottle lay on the floor beside her bed where she lay, and there was another bottle in her hand, it was her last bottle of vodka, and it had a third or so of the clear liquid gone from it. She felt so stupid for letting people see how she felt and she felt like she never wanted to see Piotr or Kitty or anyone again. She felt like she wanted to lay in this bed alone until she died.

Of course, that was mostly the alcohol talking, but she was too drunk to know that.

She rolled her head to the side and looked at the finished painting leaning against the wall, the outside layer of the oil paint almost dry. Her eye twitched to look at the half-finished painting on the easel, but she looked away again, not feeling like painting. She looked at her sketchbook and picked up it. Jaklyn flipped through, looking at the pencil portraits of her housemates. When she got to the one of Kitty, she scowled and had the inclination to rip the page from the book, crumple it up and toss it in the garbage. She didn't, because she knew she'd hate herself for it at some later point in her life. Jaklyn stared at the portrait of Piotr and then closed the sketchbook and threw it across the room. When it hit the wall and clattered to the floor, she heard Mina start pounding on the door again and she heard her friend starting demanding she opened the door.

Jaklyn almost told Mina to fuck off, but then didn't, knowing that she'd regret that too. Instead, she rolled over so her back was to the door, placed the open bottle of vodka on her bedside table and pulled her pillow over her head. Tears startled to fall from Jaklyn's eye.

"Stupid, stupid…" she mumbled. "I'm such an idiot…"

* * *

Mina was laying spread eagle on the floor when Peter ascended the stairs into Jaklyn's hallway. "She's not opening the door and I doubt she wants to talk to you, Pete," she said.

"Is she OK?"

"I don't know. Like I said, she's not opening the door. Whatever your girlfriend said to her has got her _really_ upset." Mina sat up and craned her neck she was looking at Peter's eyes. "If I were you, I wouldn't count on getting to talk to her anytime soon. From what I know of Jaklyn, she seems more the type to avoid whatever's causing her problems."

Peter looked kind of hurt as he sat down on the floor across from Mina. "I wanted to apologize for Kitty."

Mina shrugged. "I don't think that'd work. From what I heard, Kitty really embarrassed and hurt her." When Peter gave her a funny look, Mina pointed at her ear. "I have super-hearing, you know, because I'm like half-animal."

Peter nodded. "I'm sorry you've had to go through all this Mina," he said after a moment. "First your problems with John, and then Silence disappears and now Jaklyn's shut herself in her room." He offered her a genuinely friendly and concerned smile. "You are very strong to be able to deal with all of those things."

Again Mina shrugged. "I guess so."

* * *

**Author's Note… **Holy crap! (Haha, only you'll get that one Shauna.) It's a long chapter! Like, very long, Like, almost a thousand words longer than the chapters normally are… Oo. This one is kinda important though, and I had a lot of information to cover. Like, really rather important. It kinda (with chapter ten) only sets up the field for the rest of the fic. Relationship and mental-health (lol, you'll see what I mean soon.) wise anyways. And before, when I said the movie-related stuff happens soon, I kinda lied. Oops. In two more chapters, Wolverine returns to the mansion, and _then _we get to the movie stuff. And some really interesting love-triangles and –squares and all that fun stuff. Sorry about that. Only two more chapters until we get to the familiar stuff. Thanks for all the support so far peoples! It means a lot to me. Oh yeah, and I did _not _intend for the scene between Silence and Warren to have those sexual undertones… I swear.


	10. Chapter Ten : The Vodka Rift

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Ten / _The Vodka Rift_

* * *

In the three days that followed, Jaklyn spoke only when it was absolutely necessary, and she spent all of her time in classes, in her room painting and drinking, or down in the Danger Room fighting random enemies and running simulations by herself. She spent as much of her time by herself as it was possible. She had already received one talking to from Jean about her absent-minded behaviour, but Jaklyn seemed to have ignored her, as she definitely continued. The young mutant girl always seemed to be walking around in some sort of stupor, and she seemed completely out of it. And no one knew what to do to help her.

Mina had tried to talk to her more than once and had tried to get her out of her room, but none of her tactics was working very well. If Silence had been at the mansion, she would have _forced _Jaklyn out of her room, but she was still in New York City somewhere, and Mina didn't have the same attitude as Silence. She didn't have what she was sure it would take to get Jaklyn out of her room, and to be herself again.

Bobby had also tried to talk Jaklyn, but he had had no more luck than Mina. Piotr had even tried to talk to her, but Jaklyn ignored him more than anyone else. She wouldn't even talk to any of the teachers, she never answered questions in class and she ate all her meals in her room. She was becoming an absolute recluse, and Mina knew something would have to be done soon.

"This isn't a healthy way for her to be," Bobby observed one night while almost everyone at the mansion was eating dinner together in the main dining hall. "We need to do something. Maybe we should talk to the Professor?"

Mina shook her head. "No, no. I don't think that'd be a wise idea. Then, we might be prying, and Jaklyn would be mad at us then." She chewed on a mushroom for a while, a look of contemplation on her face. "It seems like all we can do is keep an eye on her. You know, make sure she doesn't hurt herself. Become suicidal or something ridiculous like that." Mina's eyes flickered to her right, where John was sitting, silently. "You have any input?" She, of course, knew he wouldn't answer, but she felt obligated to ask; in fact, John hadn't said a whole lot lately. He was worried about Silence. "Ah, that's OK." Mina turned back to Bobby. "You have every class with Jaklyn, right?"

Bobby nodded and swallowed a mouthful of his dinner, which was pork chops, steamed vegetables and rice. "Yeah. I'll try and keep an eye on her. You'll have to do that in Danger Room session though. I don't have those with her." He sighed. "Maybe we should speak to Kitty?"

"Nah."

After dinner was finished, the inhabitants of the mansion deposited their dishes in the sink. It was Mina and John's turn to wash the dishes that night. Neither of them were particularly thrilled.

"Don't worry about the pots," Jean said as she was exiting the kitchen. "I'll do those later. Just rinse everything else and cram as much as possible in the dishwasher. Wash the rest. You know the drill." She left the room with a smile on her face and headed into the arms of a waiting Scott, and then their pair proceeded in the general direction of the back doors.

Mina picked up one of the serving platters, realized it was one of the dishes that couldn't go in the dishwasher and set it back down again. "Are you all right, John?" she asked, retrieving a different platter from the pile. "I've never seen you like this before."

He didn't answer, just stood by, waiting with the drying towel.

"John?"

"I'm _fine._"

"Oh, now that's a lie. You're talking even less than usual, and you don't want to do anything. Like, at all. What is wrong? I want to help."

"Well you _can't_."

Mina winced and drew back and silently washed the platter in the water she had run a few minutes ago. "Well, I'd like to _try_," she said bitterly. "That's what girlfriends do when their boyfriend is upset, John. They try and help."

John took the platter and began to dry it. "I'm worried about Silence, if you must know. And you can't do anything about that, like I said. Unless you can bring her back, and, no offense, but no one, not even you, could change her mind."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. No one can change her mind when she's made it up. So I'm going to silently worry about her until she gets her ass home, and there's nothing else to it. You're just going to have to deal with me like this."

Mina finished washing the last platter and handed it to John. She then grabbed the first in a tall stack of plates. "I don't want to deal with you like this John, although, I'm obviously going to. But there's got to be something I can do to help you take your mind off of Silence for even a while?"

It was an innocent enough question, besides the obvious suggestions, but it sent John over the edge. The platter in his hands fell to the tile floor and shattered into a million pieces. "I don't _want _to take my mind off of her! She is my _sister_. She is the _only _family I have left. She is the _most _important person in my life, regardless of how much we fight." John's face was livid. "She is the _only_ person who really understands me. We've been through everything together, and she's run away, Mina. _I don't want to take my fucking mind off her, Mina! _I want her to come home and I want to know, I want to _see _that she is OK!" He finished his tirade with a sharp glare and then stormed from the room, throwing the towel he was holding into the pile of china shards.

Mina, whose cheeks were wet with tears, slowly knelt down and began picking up the pieces.

* * *

Up in her room, Jaklyn had her own pieces to pick up. They were pieces of herself, and she wasn't even trying. She was content right then, to lay on her bed and drink until she couldn't see straight. She was content to drown her troubles, and possibly herself, in the spicy sensation of vodka sliding down her throat.

She didn't get that chance though. She didn't even get the chance to feel a buzz.

Someone knocked on her door.

_Go the __**fuck **__away, _she thought as she rolled onto her side, putting her back to the door. _I want to be alone, that's why my door is shut and locked. What part of that don't people get? _The knocking persisted. _**God. **__Whoever is doing that is going to give me the biggest bloody fucking headache ever. _She got to her feet, walked slowly over and opened the door. And found herself looking at Piotr; dinner must be finished. "What do you want?" she snapped.

Piotr took in her appearance with concern plastered on his handsome face. "I want to make sure you're all right, Jaklyn. No one has been able to talk to in three days. What did Kitty say to you that was so bad?"

"She told me to get lost. And that's what I did." Jaklyn took a drink from the bottle that was in her hand.

Piotr's eyes widened and he snatched the bottle from her when she was finished. "What is this?" he asked, his voice quiet, and astonished. "Is this what you have been doing up here by yourself for the past three days? Drinking yourself stupid?" As his emotions increased, his Russian accent became more pronounced. "Are you trying to poison yourself, Jaklyn? Trying to kill yourself?"

She took the bottle back. "Why the bloody hell do you care what I do to myself? You have Kitty to care about." Jaklyn took another drink. "What does it matter if I die? It's not like I'm some important part of the mansion or anything."

Piotr, not caring if he spilt any of the vodka anymore, took the bottle and smashed it on the floor beside him. "Do not think that no one cares about you here Jaklyn. Many people would be upset by your selfish actions. Many people would be very hurt." His face lost the harsh edge it had taken on – something very rare for Piotr – and the normal kindness took its place. "Do not do this Jaklyn… We can help you. You do have friends at the mansion." He held the door open when she tried to slam it in his face. "Why don't you tell me what Kitty said to upset you so much."

Jaklyn looked at him long and hard for a minute. "I already told you." Her voice was quiet and each word emphasized with anger. "She told me to get lost."

"And?"

"And nothing! Why the hell do you want to know?" She tried to shut the door again, but Piotr held it open. Jaklyn looked up, trying to glare at Piotr again, but found that his gaze unsettled her, made her want to tell him everything. Made her knees weak. "And…" Jaklyn shook her head. "_JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" _She summoned her animal strength – something she had learned to do in Danger Room sessions – and shut the door in his face, shutting out his blue eyes, his concern.

"Jaklyn!" he called through the door. "Drinking isn't going to solve your problems."

"I'm going to drink anyway," she said, her voice nearing a hiss. "So you might as well stop caring so God damn much and go pay some attention to your girlfriend."

She waited until she was sure Piotr had gone and then slammed her head backwards into the door. Piotr had broken her last bottle of the vodka Samantha had packed in her bag. Being the resourceful girl Jaklyn was thought, she had managed to procure three more bottles of the stuff from Jaime Madrox; she had asked him to buy her some, and he, being the _decent _person he had become, had obliged. The two bottles that were left were hidden, wrapped in a sweater beneath her bed. She could have easily retrieved one of them and quenched her thirst, but right then, at that moment, she felt so horrible that the pain of that thirst was more satisfying than any pain the burn of the vodka could generate.

* * *

"I'm glad someone has finally come to me, Piotr."

The young Russian looked across the desk at Professor Xavier and forced a smile. "I do not think that anyone else, besides you and Ms. Grey, of course, knows about her drinking." He looked back down at his hands folded in his lap. "And I did not think you would interfere unless it was a pressing danger."

"To tell you the truth, I haven't been keeping as close of an eye on her as I should have been. I am sorry that I let it get this far out of control, Piotr."

"It's all right. But can you do anything about it, Professor?"

Xavier opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again. "I'm not going to promise anything except that I will try. If Jaklyn doesn't want to fix this, I can't – I won't – force her. Is she still in her room?"

"Yes." Piotr rose from his chair. "Thank you."

Piotr left the office and headed towards the stairs, planning to head upstairs to his room and spend some time drawing. He ran into a distraught-looking Mina though, sitting on the stairs, her knees drawn up to her chest and her head resting on them. Her eyes were closed, but tears were visible on her cheeks and streaming from her eyes. Piotr sat down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, slightly startled by his sudden appearance, but smiled when she saw it was him.

"Hey Pete," she said, wiping his cheeks.

"What's wrong, Mina?"

"John yelled at me. He's so worried about Silence. I've never seen him like this before and I don't know what to do… I don't know what I can do… I want to help… Except now he won't speak to me. He won't even look at me, except to realize it's me and walk away." Tears started to fall again, and as Piotr pulled her into a friendly embrace, she collapsed against him.

"I went to the Professor about Jaklyn."

"Why?" Mina sobbed.

"When I went up to talk to her, she opened the door and she was holding a bottle of vodka. She's been drinking up there, Mina."

"What's happening to people around here, Pete?"

He sighed. "I don't know."

* * *

Silence lay on the luxurious bed in the hotel room Warren had paid for, and sighed, closing her eyes and stretching to her full length. Her four days in New York City had been amazing, rejuvenating, relaxing. They had been everything she had been looking for, and it was mostly because she had been spending so much time with Warren. They met for lunch in the park everyday and then they would spend the afternoon together, sight-seeing and wandering the streets. He would walk her back to the hotel before dinner, and then he'd head back to his father's ridiculously expensive apartment before he was expected. Warren had informed Silence that if his father found out he was spending his time with another mutant, things would not be pretty.

The only thing that was ruining Silence's get away was the fact that Jaime kept calling her cell-phone, and she did _not _want to talk to him. In fact, she didn't want to talk to anyone. Any time her cell phone rang, she'd look to see who it was, but she wouldn't answer it. Not even if it was Mina or John. The only person she'd answer the phone for was Warren.

She was definitely attracted to him. His quiet and kind disposition was refreshing, and he made her feel calm like Jaime never had. She felt calm like she never had before.

She was happy, but, she did miss Mina and her friends and John. Silence had no one to talk to, to share this happiness with. She wanted to go back to the mansion. But Warren would never come back to the mansion with her, and she knew that once she _did_ return to the mansion, her serenity would vanish. Silence was conflicted.

Her cell phone went off then, the theme from her favourite movie causing her to jump. She rolled onto her stomach and dug the device out of her bag. That ringer was Mina's. Silence let the phone ring again, and then, after a momentary battle with herself, flipped the phone open and pressed it to her ear.

"What do you want Foxy Lady?" she asked, smirking to herself.

_"OH MY GOD! You're actually going to talk to me?!" _Mina sounded panicked.

"What's wrong, Mi?"

_"Things are like, falling apart here Si. John and I had a fight and now we're not speaking. Kitty yelled at Jaklyn, and now they're not friends anymore, and Piotr went to talk to Jaki, found out she's like an alcoholic or something, and now the Professor's going to try and stop her from drinking, but no one knows what's going to happen. Si, you __**need**__ to come home." _Silence could hear her friend breathing heavily, probably trying to stop herself from crying. _"John's really worried about you, by the way. He won't admit it to anyone but me, of course, and that was what we ended up fighting about… Oh __**God **__Silence! Get your ass home."_

"Mina… I'm sorry. I…" She closed her eyes, regretting what she was going to say next. "But I can't come home yet. I'm not ready to be somewhere Jaime could find me easily." _I don't want to leave Warren_, she thought. That was the truth, but Mina didn't need more on her mind at the present time. "I'll be home soon."

_"Silence… Fine. I guess I'll see you when you get home then. I'll try and hold things together."_

"Don't take it all on yourself, Mi. Find help."

_"Whatever. I hope you're finding whatever you left us for in New York City." _

Silence was about to ask how Mina knew where she was, but the answer came to her before she had to ask – Cerebro. "I am, Mina. I'm just not ready to come home yet. Soon. I promise."

There was a moment before Silence heard Mina sigh and then she said, _"I believe you Si. I'll see you whenever that is. Bye."_

"Bye."

Silence closed her phone and dropped her head, face-first, into her pillow and huffed. She knew she should head home. But she didn't want to leave Warren. She also knew that she was being selfish, but didn't she have a right to be once in a while? _Just phone him and tell him you're heading home. _Silence opened her phone again, and dialed Warren's cell number; according to him, Silence was the only person he'd given that number to who wasn't part of his family or of the people his father worked with.

It rang for a while, before someone answered.

_"Hello?"_

The voice was deeper than Warren's. Silence hung up as soon as she knew it wasn't him and dropped her head into the pillow again.

* * *

"What is that bastard doing here?" John asked when he saw Jaime standing in the entrance hall.

"He's looking for Silence." Bobby looked at his classmate warily, wondering what John was going to do next. "He'll leave as soon as he realizes she's not here," he said, hoping that would cool John off enough.

"He's not going to let him go," Rogue said quietly in his ear.

"I can try to stop him."

But it was too late. John was already moving down the stairs, his jaw set and his lighter clicking furiously. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?" he demanded, taking his place across from the black haired young man. Jaime may have been a few years John's senior, but he didn't care. John was tough, he was a fighter, and he was going to stand up for his sister, even if she wasn't there.

"I'm looking for Silence, John. I need to talk to her."

"What about? Have to come to upset her some more?" _Click, click, click_ went John's lighter in his right hand. "I've got news for you, Jaime. She doesn't want to talk to you. So you can just leave."

"No. I can't. I _have _to talk to her John. It's important."

Pyro now had a ball of flame floating above his upturned palm. "For your information, Jaime, she ran away after you _talked _to her last time. We don't know where she is and we don't know when she's coming back. That's _your _fault, Jaime. She could be dead in a ditch somewhere, because of what you told her, of what you _did _to her. If she doesn't come home, that's on your hands. If I find out that she is _dead, _I will hunt you down and burn you slowly, so you feel some inkling of the pain she felt."

Through this whole exchange, Pyro had kept his voice low so no one but Jaime would hear what he was saying. He knew that Bobby and Rogue, standing behind him, could see the fire, and he knew that they would probably call the Professor to come and stop him from burning down the mansion, but he didn't care. He had to get his message across and make sure that Jaime knew what he had done to Silence. How he had destroyed part of the strength Silence had possessed – the strength that had brought her and Pyro to the mansion, to safety. The strength that had, more than once, saved their lives and the strength that had made Silence so important to Pyro.

"John," a warning voice said behind him.

He recognized the powerful voice of the Professor and extinguished the fire in his hand. He shot Jaime one more glare, before turning. "Sorry Professor." He walked past, back to where Bobby and Rogue were standing. "What are you looking at?" he snapped at Rogue, who was staring, wide-eyed. He kind of really didn't like Bobby and Rogue, but they were the only people he could associate himself with right now, with him and Mina not speaking.

"Nothing," Rogue said.

* * *

Jean ascended the staircase to Jaklyn's room and knocked on the door. While she was waiting, her eyes fell down to where broken glass from a vodka bottle and a clear puddle sat. _Oh God, the Professor was right. She is drinking. _She knocked on the door again, but there was no answer. "Jaklyn? It's Jean. I want to talk to you about the field trip tomorrow. Please open the door."

After a moment, the door swung inward and a very tired and sad looking Jaklyn leaned on it. "OK."

"We're going to a museum of natural history tomorrow morning. We're leaving at eight. All of the other students are going. The Professor was wondering weather you are well enough to go as well."

Jaklyn's eye fell to the ground, drifted to where the vodka lay on the floor. It took a while, but she finally said, "Yeah, I'll come. I'll go to bed early tonight, and I should be OK."

Jean smiled and nodded, glad that the girl was finally saying more than one word at a time. She reached out and placed a hand on Jaklyn's shoulder, causing the girl to look up into her fiery eyes. "You know Jaklyn, that if you have any problems, you can talk to the Professor or me. Anything we talk about will be kept in complete confidence." Jean gave Jaklyn the warmest smile she possibly could. "We are here to help you with more than just your powers, you know." That earned Jean a smile, and she saw some of the spark that had been present in Jaklyn only a few days ago. "If you'd like, I can supervise some solo Danger Room sessions for you, as well, if that'll help."

"Only if we ran one everyday," she said sarcastically.

Jean smiled again. "We could. But only if you want to. Let me know, all right?"

Jaklyn nodded and Jean turned to leave the girl alone with her thoughts. "Jean," she called as the older woman was walking away. "I'm sorry."

Jean smiled. "It's OK, Jaklyn. We'll get you through this."


	11. Chapter Eleven : Feral Seduction

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Eleven / _Feral Seduction _

* * *

Jaklyn spent the museum field trip tagging along behind Mina, who had serious issues with the taxidermy-ized animals. Considering she could shift her form into any one of them at will, she felt a little more connected to them and offended by their current state. More then once, Jaklyn had to physically move her friend away from a particular exhibit and point her attention somewhere else. The girls stayed away from the cafeteria where Bobby, Rogue and John were sitting, and away from the group of younger students who were following Storm and who were terribly boring to be around.

John managed to get in trouble and due to the fiery incident in the cafeteria, and a disturbing news report about a mutant attack on the president, the students of Xavier's mansion had to leave earlier than planned. Mina had rolled her eyes and complained about John for a while. Jaklyn had listened patiently but she hadn't said anything. As far as she was concerned, she didn't think she had a right to say anything.

"What do we do now?" Mina asked, flopping down on her favourite couch – the one by the courtyard window – in the library once they returned to the mansion. "We were supposed to be at the museum for a _least _three more hours." She groaned loudly and pulled a pillow over her head. "Anything you wanna do Jaki?" she asked, her voice muffled by the fabric and stuffing.

But Jaklyn didn't answer or make any noise of acknowledgement. Mina pulled the pillow off her face and looked around for her friend. She found her a moment later, standing by a window farther down the wall with a strange look on her face. As Mina got to her feet, Jaklyn turned and began to walk swiftly from the library, stopping every few feet or so to turn her face up and sniff the air. Her eyes had taken on a vacant look, and there was something about her movements that was more animal than human; Mina could sense the change in her friend, and she could sense Jaklyn becoming more and more of an animal with every step she took. When Mina caught a glimpse of Jaklyn's face after a few moments, her eye had narrowed and brightened, and her eye teeth had elongated to fangs. There was a different light to her face. She looked positively feral.

"Uh… Jaki?" Mina was about to ask when her enhanced hearing picked up the dull roar of a distant motorcycle. She was pretty sure it was heading towards the mansion. So it must be… "Wolverine," Mina whispered. Her light blue eyes shifted to Jaklyn again, whose nose was twitching in time with the sporadic movements of her head, and somehow, she knew the animalistic change has something to do with the rugged man who was going to walk through the doors any moment. Mina couldn't really blame Jaklyn. Wolverine was, well, _Wolverine_, and he was _very _attractive, and Mina knew that Jaklyn might get out of control. She'd have to keep an eye on her.

As the motorcycle pulled into the driveway, Jaklyn crept towards the entrance hall and watched as Wolverine, clad in a leather jacket and tight jeans, returned to the mansion. Mina kept a close eye on her friend, her mouth falling open as she saw something creep into Jaklyn's eye that made her friend look even more frightening than before; for the first time since she had met the British teenager, Mina could see why Jaklyn might have been afraid of her own powers. There was beast's blood in her eye, and that blood was running hot. Hot for Wolverine. Mina poked Jaklyn's shoulder to try and get her attention, but the seventeen year-old's only response was to snarl viciously without taking her intense gaze from Wolverine. Taking a step back, Mina just stared, unsure of what to do next, and afraid that something was going to go terribly wrong.

As if on cue, Rogue came barreling in from the living room.

"Logan!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the older man's neck.

Jaklyn growled and her whole body tensed, as if she was going to lunge and attack Rogue.

_Please let there be some human left in Jaklyn's mind… Come on Jaki, you're not an animal… _Mina prepared herself to stop Jaklyn if she had to. Not that she really wanted to be anywhere near Jaklyn right then. Ashamed of the fact as she was, Mina was afraid of her friend.

As Logan and Rogue parted, he was introduced to Bobby – who was putting on a "tough guy" act – and then, he turned to see who else he was sensing in the room; no doubt he was getting a strange aroma from Jaklyn. He offered a small smile in greeting to Mina and then turned to Jaklyn. A look of blatant confusion crossed his face, and he looked back to Mina, seeking an answer that she didn't have. All she could do was shrug and try and pull Jaklyn away. She was unsuccessful, and Jaklyn began pulling harder against her the closer Logan got. Obviously, he was picking up on the pheromones, but he wasn't stupid enough or desperate enough to do anything except quash Jaklyn's plain desire.

But he didn't get the chance to do that, let alone find out who the hell she was.

Jean walked down the stairs as Rogue and Bobby were leaving, dressed in a bright red shirt that complimented her red hair. Silver necklaces hung around her slender neck and, as Mina watched Logan's dark eyes slide down her body, she knew that she had to get Jaklyn out of there; the low growling issuing form her friend also served to warn. Jean tried to push past Logan, obviously sensing something was wrong with Jaklyn, but Logan kept her back, wanting to talk to her. Mina caught Jean's eye and conveyed her theories via thought; she was sure Jaklyn would be fine once she was no longer around Wolverine. Jean seemed to agree.

"Mina, what's wrong with Jaklyn?"

Mina whirled around, keeping her hand on Jaklyn's arm. "Oh… hey Pete. Uhm…" _What the hell do I say? She's jonesing for Logan? _Subconsciously, her eyes flickered to where Logan was now talking to Jean and Storm. Unfortunately, Peter followed her gaze, and, for the first time since she'd known the big Russian, she heard him _scowl_. _Wow, it's a day of firsts for me._ "Pheromones," Mina mumbled. "She started acting like this before he even got inside the mansion… I've never seen anything like it."

"Me either."

There was _anger_ in Peter's voice. Mina was going to ask him if he was OK, and then decided against it. Her woman's intuition had kicked in, and she guessed that Peter didn't know why he was angry. Yet.

* * *

It was nice outside – the perfect fall day. It was sweater-weather and a light breeze was blowing, predicting the chill winter that was due in a few months. Silence and Warren were seated on the bank of one of the lakes, watching ducks swim and sipping at their warm drinks. Warren had on the same trench coat he had been wearing when they'd met and Silence was bundled up in both sweaters she had stuffed in her backpack; one was black and the other was plaid. Her hair was up in a ponytail today, strays strands blowing across her face periodically. They hadn't said much, but it wasn't really necessary.

"When do you think you're going to head home?" Warren asked, keeping his eyes on a mallard duck and his bright green head. "You've been in New York City for five days. Don't you think you should go back home?"

Silence looked sideways at Warren and smirked. "What? Eager to get rid of me?" She took a long sip of her hot chocolate as he smiled back. He didn't say anything else, just waited for her to answer, like he knew she would. "I should probably be getting back soon… I think it'll be 'safe' for me to go back to the mansion now. Jaime's stopped calling." In their time together, Silence had explained pretty much _everything _to Warren, and now, after the compassion and sympathy he'd shown her, she was having a hard time convincing herself to go back to the mansion. She'd never felt so safe before, even around Mina, who was her best friend, or John, who was her brother, her only family left. She forced herself to smile again. "Things seem to be falling apart without me."

Warren nodded, alluding to what she'd told him about Mina's phone call. "How about I get our driver to give you a ride home? Save you some money?"

"You're so nice Warren."

"You're the first person to accept me for who and what I am, Silence. I feel I have to repay that kindness."

"You don't have to. As far, as I'm concerned, you don't owe me anything. Especially after getting me that nice hotel room. How did you explain that one to your father, by the way?"

He shrugged. "He didn't really ask. I _do _spend money, and it's not like he checks my account activity or anything. He's overprotective, but not that overprotective." Warren sighed. "Although, once you leave and I start hanging around the house again, he'll probably want to know where I was this week. And that I _don't _know how to explain."

"Just tell him the truth. You were hanging out with a tourist you met in the park and showing them around the city." When her companion didn't say anything, Silence took her turn to sigh and then asked, "Will you be riding back with me to the mansion? Then you'll know where it is when you come to visit me." She smirked boldly when he looked at her with a slightly confused look on his face. "What? You _were _planning on coming to visit me, weren't you?"

They looked at each other in silence for a time, their gaze never disconnecting. Silence thought, wished, hoped, willed, that he was going to lean in and kiss her, but he didn't. Instead, he said, "Maybe."

_Why would he kiss you, Silence? You just met him a few days ago… And besides… How would he explain that one? His father probably wouldn't be too happy about another mutant in his life. _She forced another smile. "Well, you're welcome at the mansion anytime, Warren. But, you didn't answer my question. Are you going to ride back with me to the mansion?"

He nodded, and they resumed watching the nature around them move on. After a moment, Warren got to his feet, helped Silence to hers, and they moved closer to a road. Warren phoned for the car and they climbed in to go get Silence's stuff and then head back to the mansion.

* * *

Mina had given up trying to snap Jaklyn out of her present state. _God, I wish Silence were here… She'd light a fire under her ass or __**something **__useful. I've tried biting her, tackling her… __**Everything!**__ What the hell else can I do? I guess she's stuck like this… _Mina turned her head to look at where Jaklyn had been sitting a moment ago, watching Logan watch television. But Jaklyn wasn't there. And Logan wasn't in the living room. Mina sighed, got to her feet and followed Jaklyn's scent to where she was now watching Logan talk to Jean again, who was preparing to leave on a mission for the Professor. "Oh God," Mina mumbled, realizing that Jaklyn was getting ready to pounce.

Quickly, she changed into the first animal to come to mind – a wolf – and tackled Jaklyn just as she left the ground, and knocked her backwards into the wall. The bigger girl growled deeply and picked herself up and, quicker than Mina could dodge or multiply, spun around, lashing out with nails that were more like claws. Attracted by the noise, Logan walked over to investigate, along with several other mutants. Jaklyn pressed closer to Mina, scratching whatever skin she could reach with her claws, growling. Mina closed her jaws around Jaklyn's arm and pulled her down, being careful to bite where she knew she wouldn't cause permanent damage. Jaklyn, enraged and fueled by her bizarre state, hurled her friend into the other wall and pinned her there.

"Cool it Half-Pint." Logan appeared and pulled Jaklyn's arms behind her back, pulling her away from Mina. His eyes snapped up to where Bobby was watching the exchange, horrified and wondering what he could do. "Hey, Iceman or whatever your name is – mind giving me a hand here?"

Bobby got the hint and sent a mist of ice drifting over Jaklyn. When she began to shiver violently and her teeth retracted, and she began to look normal again, he stopped the ice flow. "I'm sorry Jaklyn," he said as he tossed a blanket from the living room over her; Wolverine was still holding her arms. Bobby then moved over to Mina. "Are you all right, Mina?"

"Yeah," she said, rubbing her head. "Just a little sore." Her eyes flickered over to where John was standing; it was clear she wanted it to be him who was making sure she was OK. She got to her feet, and looked down at Jaklyn, a mix of fear, concern and anger on her face. "I'm going to go and lay down." She walked away, rubbing her head, as Logan carried Jaklyn off to one of the nearby sitting rooms where she could be alone.

* * *

_What the hell is wrong with me? _Jaklyn shook her head again, trying to not look at Logan, who was sitting on the other end of the couch. She could feel her blood boiling again, her back arching, her body squirming. She was trying hard to repress it. She was _fighting _to repress it. She closed her eyes and rolled onto her side, pressing herself into the couch as pain blossomed in her shoulder and in her arm. Suddenly, the pain began to subside, and her senses, her urges, subsided and once again, she was Jaklyn, and not some animal driven by her instincts. Obviously, she still had a lot to learn about control. _Oh God… It bloody __**hurts**__. What happened?_

"How you feelin' Half-Pint?" Logan asked once he realized she was awake.

"Weird." She swung her feet over the side of the couch, digging her bare toes into the plush rug. "Do you ever have uncontrollable urges like those? No, you know what? I don't bloody care." Rubbing her shoulder, she said, "I'm going to head down to the Danger Room… blow off some steam." Jaklyn twitched when she tried to look at Logan, and then got to her feet. And almost fell over.

Logan caught her. "I don't think you're in any condition to do that." He sat her back down on the couch.

"Go away." She got to her feet again and slowly, rather shakily, walked towards the elevator, mumbling to herself and keeping her eyes firmly on the ground, for fear that if she looked at the rugged man she would revert.

* * *

"How's your head, Mina?"

"Better, thanks." She looked up at Piotr. "Are you OK? You seem… irked."

Piotr sat down on the end of the couch and sighed. "I saw what happened between you and Jaklyn. And what happened between her and Logan." _Which is what bothered me the most_, he thought. "It bothered me that she could be like that." _That she could be such an animal. Now I know why she was afraid of her powers and why she was so reluctant to change. _"And Kitty is mad at me and she won't tell me why. She will not tell me what I did. But I'm assuming it has something to do with Jaklyn, because every time she sees her, she turns and walks away."

Mina sighed heavily, closing her eyes. "She thinks you have a thing for Jaklyn, Pete, and from all the attention you've been paying to her since she got here, I don't really blame Kitty for thinking that." When Piotr didn't say anything, Mina pushed herself into a sitting position. "She doesn't think you care about her the same way you used to. And if you _do_, Pete, I suggest you go and tell her so. And if you _don't, _I think you should tell her that too, because she has a right to know."

Piotr didn't acknowledge that he'd heard her. He just nodded and got to his feet and started walking towards the last place he had seen Jaklyn – in one of the sitting rooms with Logan, lying on the couch, shivering and trying to keep warm; he kept seeing himself holding her to keep her warm. When he got there, though, the room was empty. _What are you doing, Piotr? Find Kitty. Tell her that everything is the same. Except… that'd be a lie, because it's not the same. Nothing is the same… What am I going to do? _He sat down and held his head in his hands.

* * *

Silence walked rather hesitantly up to the front doors of the mansion. She stood still for a moment, staring at the intricate patters on the patio. Warren was sitting in the car, which was still sitting in the driveway – there was still time. She could run back, get in the car and… No. Her place was at the mansion. She had friends here and family, and she had responsibilities to them. She couldn't just run away… She turned and waved once last time and then pushed the doors open and stood in the entrance way.

There was something wrong.

The first place she went was the library. No one important was there, which was odd in itself, because Mina spent most of her afternoons in there, surrounded by a pile of books and always with something to drink. As she wandered the hall towards the living room, the first person she met with was Rogue, and she wasn't really up to talking to the very upset-looking girl. Next, on her way past one of the smaller sitting rooms, Silence stumbled upon Peter, looking confused and upset and a whole myriad of other emotions. She didn't really think he wanted to bothered with something as trivial as her return so she finished her trek to the living room where she'd found the one person she _wanted _to see and the one person who she knew wanted to see her. Mina.

"Mina, are you all right?" she asked, realizing her friend was in pain.

The smaller girl wheeled around and sat up in one motion. "Oh my God! Silence! You're home!" Mina flung her arms around Silence and pressed her face into her shoulder. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you! All this week I've been thinking 'If only Silence was here!' and now you are!"

Worried by her friend's rather uncharacteristic display, Silence flattened Mina's hair and held her close. "It's OK, Mina. We'll fix everything. What's the problem?"

"So much." Mina sobbed. She had started to cry.

"Well, let's pick one place to start."

"Jaki went all berserk when she saw Wolverine. She was all like… feral and…" Mina sobbed again. "For the first time, I saw why she might be afraid of her powers, Si… and she… was scary. I was afraid of her, and then when I was trying to make her stop being all freaky and I turned into a wolf and tackled her and then she knocked me into the wall and then Bobby had to freeze her…"

"Mina – Mina, just shut up for a second and breathe." Silence waited for Mina to calm down before continuing. "Mina, Jaklyn's back to normal now, right?" Mina nodded. "All right, so let's pick another problem."

"John."

Silence sighed heavily, understanding. "Are you and him not talking _again_?"

"Yeah…" She sighed, rubbing furiously at her eyes. "He was worried about you and I was trying to help him, and then he got all mad, and acting like I wasn't worried about you too, and… ugh… He's so frustrating."

"Well, you've been having problems with him for a while… Let's go talk to him, OK? I'll get things fixed."

Mina hugged Silence again. "What the hell took you so long to get home, Silence?"

* * *

Jaklyn was standing in the women's locker room, staring at her cubby. Hers was the only one without a leather uniform. It held a pair of tight, black yoga pants, a white tank top, a white t-shirt, and a pair of flexible slip-on shoes. She knew hers was being made, but it was going to take while longer because Forge, the man who designed all the gadgets the X-Men used – including the Danger Room – was designing a special leather material that would change with Jaklyn so she wouldn't be left naked and exposed after changing back. Forge was a mutant whose powers allowed him to figure out and build any machine, so he was quite an asset to Xavier and his X-Men. So, eventually, she would have her own black leather outfit, tailored just for her, and she would _finally_ look and feel like a part of the ream she already was.

She pulled on the pants and t-shirt, slipped on the shoes and headed upstairs to the control room, where, like she had seen Storm do, she programmed the Danger Room computer to run one of her solo missions - 'Wolf: Assault 105". It was the only program out of the five assault courses and five defensive courses she had run that she hadn't made it through "alive". Jaklyn was planning on changing that over the course of the afternoon. And possibly into the night. She was planning on going for as long as it took to bring her head back to where it was supposed to be.

Out on the holo-chamber floor, Jaklyn took her ready-pose by the door.

"Generating simulation. Running program Wolf: Assault 105."

She took a few deep breaths as the hallways materialized around her. She hadn't even bothered to think of how much trouble she'd get in if Jean, Storm, Cyclops or the Professor found out about her unsupervised Danger Room romps. Not that it _really_ mattered right then, as the only adult in the building was that Wolverine… _Logan_, and she doubted very much that he was the kind of person who would care. She also hoped he wouldn't find her, because she didn't want to be reverted into that bizarre feral state.

"Generating opponent."

_Bring it. _

With a feral scream that turned into a roar, Jaklyn literally threw herself forward into her other form, taking the Change with an endurance that surprised even herself. Once wolf, Jaklyn tore through the Danger Room robots, throwing them into the wall and breaking them into pieces. As was her objective, she bolted towards the nearest alarm panel and smashed it with her side. She spun and lunged at the nearest enemy, fangs bared, and tackled him to the floor, simultaneously knocking over two other robots with her hind legs. Fire balls hit her exposed flanks, singing the hair, and angering the beast. And a beast she was. She lunged again, tearing through her opponents, fueled by her rage and self-loathing about the way she acted around Wolverine. Alarmingly, she could even feel her human mind start to slip. The animal instincts, the animal way of thinking began to take over. She was forced to pause, shake her head and then continue through the simulation.

Alarm panel after alarm panel, robot after robot, Jaklyn made her half-way through the simulation once, and then twice, and then three times. Just before she reached the point where she kept "dying" in her fourth round, the exhaustion started to take its toll. No one had realized Jaklyn was in the Danger Room yet, after all, it was a Saturday, so she was completely alone when she collapsed in the middle of a mass of the robots; all of which were programmed on aggressive with one goal in mind. Destroy their target – Jaklyn.

* * *

"Why the hell is she so beat up? We are not supposed to sustain injuries in the Danger Room!" The Russian boy – Peter? – was rather livid at the state he had found Jaklyn in. She was beat up very badly – bruised and cut and twisted.

Logan, who was the only adult in the house, and the only one who knew how to operate the Danger Room computers, had quickly come down to the subbasement when he had been asked. "She didn't reset the damage setting. It was set almost at the top because – I imagine – Jean or someone was down here before." He looked at Jaklyn's naked form and, for the briefest moment, he was overcome with a sensation not unlike what had happened to the young girl before. There was no doubt an animal attraction there. But there also an attraction between her and the young Russian kneeling at her side. "The computer was set to hurt her."

"Is she going to be all right?"

Logan quickly scanned the girl. "She looks like she'll be OK." He chewed on the stub of a cigar that had been in her mouth since he'd returned to the mansion. "Some of her minor injuries have already healed. She must have some healing powers."

"She does," Peter said quietly.

Logan caught a whiff of something then and knelt on the other side of Jaklyn. He put his nose closer to her mouth. "There's alcohol on her breath. Know anything about that?" He saw the Russian retract, and he knew he'd hit a nerve. "Does the Half-Pint – does Jaklyn – drink?" he asked. Peter nodded. "Hm… She needs rest. The best place for her is her bed right now." Wolverine got back to his feet and walked to the door. "And you should stay with her. Or someone should at least."

"I'll do it," Peter said rather defensively.

Logan watched the young Russian take Half-Pint tenderly into his arms and hold her close, protectively. Logan removed his button-down shirt that he was wearing and draped it over Jaklyn's nakedness, earning him a nod of appreciation from Peter. They walked back to the elevator and Logan got off at the ground floor and headed straight for the kitchen. He wanted beer. He had a slim hope there was _any_ alcohol in this place that was readily available. He could always go and raid Scott's room… It wasn't like the prep was there or anything. Logan had a feeling Jean wouldn't like that very much, and it was possible Scott was that much of a prep that he didn't actually have any alcohol.

"Logan?"

He turned and found himself looking at Kitty. He had only spoken to the shier girl a few times, but he knew she was worried about something. "What?"

"What was wrong with Jaklyn?"

"She was in the Danger Room by herself and the damage setting hadn't been reset. She's hurt, but she'll be OK. That Peter guy took her back up to her room." He arched an eyebrow at her. "How did you know it was Jaklyn?"

He caught the sad smile Kitty tried to conceal. "Pete doesn't get that worried about anyone else anymore."


	12. Chapter Twelve : Unknown Intrusion

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Twelve / _Unknown Intrusion; Terror_

* * *

Later that night, when she thought everyone would be asleep, Jaklyn crept down from her room and headed towards the kitchen. Her injuries had all healed, except for the bruises on her arm and shoulder from Mina tackling her into the wall and a twist in her ankle that felt as if it would never heal completely. She rounded the corner into the kitchen of dark wood and cobalt blue tile and found that she wasn't the only one awake. Logan and Bobby were sitting on either side of the island. Bobby had a carton of ice cream and a spoon and Logan had a bottle of Dr. Pepper with a thin layer of frost still showing in his hand.

Upon seeing Logan, Jaklyn's face got very hot, but, through harsh yelling in her head, she was able to keep herself as normal as usual. "Guess I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep," she mumbled, climbing onto a stool beside Bobby and putting her head in her arms, face towards the tiles.

"Ice cream?" Bobby offered her the spoon when she looked up and she gratefully scooped a large mouthful and ate it. "See? Sugar fixes everything."

"Not likely," Logan mumbled.

The trio sat in silence for a while before Bobby chilled a pop and handed it to Jaklyn as well. The house was silent around them, creating this sort of pounding in everyone's ears, especially those with enhanced-hearing. For a long while, the only sound any of them could hear was the flicking of channels by the only mutant in the house who never slept. He was a young boy, and Jaklyn didn't know his name. She sighed heavily and took a long drink of the smooth soda, when her ears caught something. Jaklyn flicked a glance towards Wolverine, who had stopped what he was doing and was standing completely still; he had heard the same thing she had. Helicopters. Footsteps.

Jaklyn slipped off her stool and dropped into a ready crouch, her muscles tense and her senses alert. Across from her, Wolverine had tensed up too. Bobby was looking from one to the other, confused.

It was then that the first of the dark men showed up. His face was painted with camouflage paint and he was undistinguishable from the man behind him. Wolverine caught the first guy and Jaklyn lunged for the second. Silently wishing she had worn her pajama pants and not her nightgown tonight, she wrapped her hands around the man's thick neck and tried to pull him forward; she was always aware of the footsteps thundering around above her.

Out of nowhere, the brain-rattling scream of the mutant called Siren tore through the air, causing all five of the people in the kitchen to scream in pain and for most of them to fall to their knees. Wolverine, who was entangled with the man and his machine gun, bellowed and bullets shot of the gun in rapid succession. The scream died away as quickly as it had started, freeing everyone and letting the fight rage on.

Jaklyn was thrown into the island, skidding across the smooth tiles and landing painfully on her feet on the other side. She vaulted back over the table, kicking the man in the face and landing with one foot on his neck. With a little more pressure, his trachea collapsed and the last bit of air from his lungs wheezed out. One thought reached her mind as Wolverine finished off the other man with his claws, and that was: _I need my knives. _But they were all the way down in the subbasement. Her cobalt eye scanned the kitchen. _I guess I'll have to settle for whatever I can find in here. _She rummaged through drawers until she found two identical knives, about six or seven inches in length with jagged edges. When she turned around, Logan and Bobby had left and without a second thought, she bolted into the hallway after them.

* * *

Mina awoke not so much from Siren's screaming or the loud commotion in the hallways, but from a yell of her name that was filled with panic. It was John. She scrambled from the twisted confines of her sheets and tumbles onto the floor. Slipping on her slippers, she bolted into the hallway. She couldn't see him anywhere.

"John?!" she called, fearing that he had been captured by whoever had broken in.

"Mina. Over here."

She turned and saw the young man standing a bit behind a pillar, avoiding the flow of children running franticly to who knew where. Mina pushed against the crowd and nearly fell into his arms, and when she straightened, Mina smiled warmly, blushing faintly and pressing herself closer to John. "What's going on?" she breathed, taking his hand.

"I don't know. But, we'd better run."

Holding hands, the couple ran down the hallway, both keeping their eyes open for an exit or for someone in need of trouble. Amidst the screaming children and the loud footsteps of the intruders and the gunshots, Mina spotted Silence sending bursts of fire barreling down the hallway, frying several men advancing towards the group of children. Mina could hear Silence shouting and laughing almost manically, her eye gleaming with internal firelight and her red hair flying about her wildly. Mina and John stopped, and gaped. Both had seen Silence in this sort of frenzy before, but there was something new in her manor, and Mina could guess that it had to do with her home coming under threat; John _knew _it was because her home had come under threat. Silence hadn't had a home to protect since they had been very young.

"John! Have you seen Rogue?"

Mina whirled and saw Bobby, looking terribly panicked. She looked to John who was shaking his head, and she urged him to go help Bobby find Rogue. "I'll be fine. I'm going to help Silence protect the kids."

John pulled her close and kissed her deeply on the mouth. "Get Silence and find us." He kissed her again before running the opposite direction she did and barreling down the hallway, calling Rogue's name and Bobby doing the same.

"Silence! Si, we've gotta go. You can protect the kids as we run." Her tall friend whirled around, her hair flaring out and fire flying from the ends. Silence's arms were covered in flame to the elbow and her eyes were no longer crimson, but alive with firelight. Mina fell back a step and then grabbed Silence's shoulder. "Silence! _Let's go!_"

She tried to pull the bigger girl, but Silence didn't budge. "Silence! Come on!" Mina was almost crying, desperate to get her friend to safety. She pulled harder and then reluctantly gave up. Mina watched for a moment as Silence ran down the hallway, towards the noises of fighting, and then she sighed and ran after her, not planning on letting Silence, her best friend, get herself killed because she was trying to protect them all.

* * *

Piotr held Siren close to his chest as he ran, looking side to side for Jaklyn or Kitty or any other children in need of help. There was a clump of children running behind him, taking shelter and comfort in his size and strength, and he was leading them away from the unconscious men he had left behind. His heart was pounding loudly in his ears and it was difficult not to let the panic control his actions. The children around him needed him. He needed to get them to safety – the passage was just down the stairs and to the right. They could make it. They had to. He couldn't let these children be captured or killed; whatever these men wanted, he could not allow it to happen. Logan was the only adult in the mansion, and Piotr felt that he, and the rest of the older children, needed to take responsibility and protect the young mutants.

"Peter!" a familiar voice yelled.

He turned and saw Kitty, running from a pair of the soldiers. Gently, he set the unconscious Siren down and summoned the metal around his skin. He stood, an unmovable pillar in the middle of the hallway, glaring dangerously at the men. Kitty passed him and he swung his powerful fists into the faces of the men, sending them flying backwards into a senseless heap where a table and an expensive-looking vase had been a moment before. Piotr turned back and, normal again, embraced Kitty quickly, kissed her head, telling her he was glad that she was OK. Then, he picked up Siren and the group continued to their safety. The young girl stirred slightly in his arms, and, silently, he reflected that removing those darts had been a good idea; she would be awake soon.

There were suddenly more screams and, terrified, the gaggle of kids, Piotr and Kitty stopped dead. Piotr got the kids to press close together against the wall, planning to avoid the soldiers coming around that corner; the kids would be easier to protect if they were close together.

* * *

For the second time in two days, Mina found herself afraid of one of friends. She had seen Silence in a frenzy before, but that had been in the Danger Room, in safe conditions, and it had not gotten this far out of control. Mina was standing at the entrance to one of the upstairs sitting rooms, behind Silence and currently in the form of five silver foxes, trying to restrain her friend. It wasn't working very well. There were already three bodies at he feet, black and crispy.

What she needed was something shocking to sober her up, but what could Mina do to that effect? Silence was used to animals, so Mina found herself at a loss. She needed Iceman – he was the one who had brought Silence back to normal in the Danger Room – but he was probably running the other way, looking for Rogue and Pyro was helping him. Pyro wouldn't have been much use bringing Silence back to normal, as she absorbed fire, but he would have probably been able to think of something else to help his sister. He always seemed to be able to think of different ideas… Mina found herself thinking about the kiss they had shared a few moments ago, and shook her head, bringing herself back to the present; she always found herself thinking of the weirdest things in tense situations.

Mina shifted herself back to human form and wrapped her arms around Silence's waist, growling a bit with the effort. The sobering event Mina had been wishing for came then, as a dismembered arm flew through the air and smacked Silence in the face.

Now, Mina, and probably Silence, would have found that absolutely hilarious, had it not been for the thing that looked like Jaklyn which came flying around the corner after the arm.

Jaklyn was completely naked except for a layer of dark blood and smeared camouflage paint. She was breathing heavily, two sets of three holes visible; she'd obviously been shot by the sedative darts. Her eye had taken on the characteristics of a wolf again, but this time, it was vacant, and her finger and toe nails and had extended and looked like some sort of hybrid nail-claw. Her fangs were also extended, and there was blood dripping from them. A pair of jagged-edge knives from the kitchen were held in a white-knuckled grip; blood dripped slowly from them as well. She stood still for only a moment, staring at her friends, and she seemed to be considering if they were intruders as well. Coming to the right conclusion – or more likely, one that satisfied her – Jaklyn leapt over their heads and disappeared to where there was noise of more fighting.

"What the _fuck _was that?" Silence breathed, still holding the arm.

"Terrifying is what that was."

Silence looked at the arm she was holding and then shrugged and tossed it down to where her toasted damage lay. One thing about Silence was that she _remembered _her frenzies. She knew what she had done, and she had an uncanny ability to deal with the emotions and she didn't regret anything. "I wonder if Jak'll remember what she did…" she whispered, peering around the corner.

Mina nearly threw up when she looked around the corner. There was blood everywhere. Five or six bodies littered the hallway, and they had obviously been dragged around and ripped apart a great deal. There was also quite a lot of some grayish substance, and Mina did not want to know what that was. "Oh God… I hope she doesn't remember…" Mina shook her head and then grabbed Silence's wrist. "Come on. We'd better go and find Bobby, John and Rogue." When Silence nodded, the girls took off.

* * *

Three of the men had managed to pin her down, their hands purposefully on her breasts and low on her stomach. Jaklyn was writhing, growling, scratching and trying to tear flesh with her knives, but she wasn't reaching anything except fabric. The tiny part of her mind which was still human wished she had powers like Silence or Bobby or someone could project something and free themselves.

"She'll be a good test subject for the boss," one of the men said, laughter in his voice.

Jaklyn would _not _be a test subject. Summoning all of her strength, she freed her right arm, swung it over and brought her knife down into the man's shoulder. He screamed and fell backwards, the knife sliding out and tearing the wound larger, because Jaklyn would not let go. When her left arm was freed, she drove both knives into the thighs of the man to her right and twisted fluidly to her feet, pulling the knives out and bringing them down again, stabbing one into his neck and the other into his eye. He slid dead from her knives, but Jaklyn wasn't finished with him. She pulled the body in front of her and tossed him forward, into the uninjured man, knocking him backwards and buying her time to dispose of the man, holding his neck where she had severed the nerves which controlled his left arm. Jaklyn growled and lunged at him, sinking her teeth into his arm and driving her knives upwards into his stomach, under his ribcage and into both his lungs. Her knives slid from him as well, and as he fell back gasping and wheezing, blood, frothy and pinkish, appeared at the corners of his mouth. But Jaklyn had already turned to face the last man.

"You picked the wrong house," she growled, advancing on him.

He shoved his companion's body to the floor and aimed a gun, a real gun, at her. "Die, bitch."

Jaklyn was in front of him faster than he could register, holding his gun and pointing it back at him. His wrist was broken and his hand was hanging uselessly at the end of his arm. He looked up at her, took in her snarl and her blood soaked skin and teeth, and he screamed. He was a man trained in the ways of military and he had seen actual combat, and for the first time in his career, he was one hundred percent terrified for his life and it was because of this teenage girl. He closed his eyes, readying himself to feel the shock of a gunshot. But it didn't come. Slowly, he opened his eyes and watched her discard the gun. She turned back around and swiftly took his neck in her hands.

She watched as the life left his eyes.

And then she ran, looking for more intruders to sate her bloodlust.

* * *

He was so glad he had taken her advice, and it was perfect night to have done so. The sky was overcast, and once he was up high enough, no one would be able to tell him apart from a large bird. Silence had told him to get out and fly regardless of what his father said, and this was probably going to be the first in many nighttime flights for Warren; there was something about flying that made him feel alive and free and truly happy.

Warren had only felt like this once before, and he had almost died because of it. He had been a young boy and was on top of the Empire State building, and he had seen a hawk or falcon or some other type of large bird hovering on the hot air being expelled from one of the vents on the roof. He had leaned over the railing, trying to imitate the bird. He had fallen down to a lower roof, and survived, but the experience had kind of frightened him away from heights for a while. It was shortly after that when his wings had first sprouted.

His wings spread to their full span now, Warren found himself winging towards Xavier's mansion, hoping to see Silence so she could see that he was taking her advice and flying. Maybe he'd even offer to take her up with him. He wasn't really sure if he could carry another person, or if his wings would take the weight, but he'd be willing to try for her.

The mansion and its grounds looked quiet majestic from the air, and Silence had been right – the grounds were beautiful. Warren dove down, sweeping over the tree tops, heading towards the mansion from the back, a slight smile on his face.

An explosion to his right snapped Warren's attention in that direction, and, as if in slow motion, he saw the glass fall to the ground like a deadly snowfall and then the dark outline of a human followed.

Without a second thought, Warren dove towards the person, arms outstretched.

* * *

Silence was very obviously enjoying herself. Fire trailed from her hands and appeared in less than a blink whenever Mina reported soldiers around the corner and a smile lit her face. Silence wasn't killing the men, just knocking them back and rendering them unconscious by throwing them into tables and walls and whatever else was available. Together, Mina and Silence made quick progress through the mansion and Mina managed to locate John and Bobby and Rogue. Mina eagerly rejoined John, but stayed in her fox form to avoid immediate danger to herself; she was also a lot more confident in her fox form.

"Took you long enough," John said, looking pointedly at Silence. "What the hell happened?"

"Erm… We ran into… uh… Terror." Silence suddenly smiled, feeling proud of herself for coming up with a nickname on the spot. "And if we don't move quickly, we're probably going to run into her again."

John spared her only the briefest of confused looks. "Come on. Bobby and Rogue went that way with Wolverine. We've gotta move if we want to catch up. They were heading towards the garage to get a car and get away." He took Mina's hand and started running, waving Silence to follow them.

She moved to do just that, when a lone soldier appeared, singe marks on the front of his outfit; he'd obviously not been rendered completely unconscious. His hand was over where Silence had noticed grenades on the men's vests before, and there was an expression of no mercy on his face. Frozen in place, Silence watched as the man removed the pin and tossed the grenade towards her. Silence ducked and rolled out of the way as the window exploded behind her and then got to her feet planning to take the man out, but locked into a rage as he was, he shot her with the sedative darts from his gun and then kicked her squarely in the chest, sending her backwards and out the window.

Mina and John were already around the corner, and Silence's last thought was about how much it was going to suck dying and having no body know.


	13. Chapter Thirteen : Retreat

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Thirteen / _Retreat_

* * *

"I can help you!"

"Help them!"

Piotr set his jaw and frowned as Wolverine ran back towards Bobby, Rogue, John and Mina were huddling close together, expressions of fear on all their faces. He cast a quick glance down the tunnel and saw Kitty, supporting the awake but woozy Siren, leading the mob of kids towards the safe house. Ushering the rest of the kids ahead of his, Piotr cast another look around him, making sure there was no other children in need of help. There were not. He ducked down, entering the damp confines of the tunnel.

But he was stopped by a rather loud thud behind him.

Slowly, cautiously, Piotr turned, metal winding itself around his muscles; if this was a trap, he was going to be ready. His blue eyes didn't find any more soldiers though, only a weary-figure. With a pang, he realized who the figure was. Piotr exited the tunnel and stepped closer to Jaklyn, his skin fading back to normal.

As she stepped into a pool of moonlight falling through a nearby window, revealing her nakedness, Piotr realized how ravaged she looked, beneath the blood covering her almost entirely. Her eye was half-closed, a dark purple bruise forming around it, and there were numerous cuts, some deep and some shallow, decorating her pale flesh. Blood dripped her from mouth and fingernails, and a set of the sedative darts stuck out from her chest, nestled among several holes from where other darts had been. The sedative didn't seem to be having much of an effect, but her shoulders were slumped and she looked as if she was going to fall over at any second. That could have just been from the exhaustion. She wobbled closer to Piotr, extending her hands towards him; clenched tightly in her left hand was something that looked like a finger. Grimacing, Piotr caught her as she fell forward, and what was _definitely _a finger hitting the carpet with a wet thud.

"Cold…" Jaklyn whispered, pressing as close to Piotr's chest as she could manage.

He sighed because he couldn't do anything about that and then ran into the tunnel, after the kids, knowing that getting to safe house was the only place to take her; the panel which concealed the entrance silently closed behind them. At the end of the tunnel, he found the kids and Kitty waiting for him. Kitty didn't look at Jaklyn, naked in her boyfriend's arms, but the kids certainly saw her, and all of them gasped, many of them backed away, and only a few approached.

"Is she OK?" one of the younger boys asked.

"I don't know," Piotr answered truthfully. "Now, come on. We have to get to the safe house." Taking the lead once more, Piotr pressed past Kitty and strode into the long, coarse grass, growing over the path which led to another concealed entrance – this one to the underground shelter constantly stocked with provisions should there ever be a situation like the current one.

The group of about twenty or so made their way rather slowly, not wanting to alert any soldiers left at the mansion of their presence. Kitty walked a few steps behind Piotr, confusion, worry and anger on her face, all of which Piotr was very aware of, but none of which he chose to address at the current time. Finally, they reached a statue of an angel, pale in the bluish moonlight. Piotr shifted Jaklyn so one of his hands was free, and then he pressed a small section of stone. The children behind him gasped again as the platform the statue was on slid back and exposed a set of narrow stairs. Piotr stepped to the side and Kitty once again led the way down, sparing only a brief glance that held no expression whatsoever.

Piotr sighed and followed, closing the door to the passage behind him.

* * *

The first thing Warren did was remove the sedative darts sticking out of Silence's shoulder. She didn't wake up. He splashed some cold water from the pond on her face. She shifted, but still didn't wake up. Warren couldn't think of what to do next – his mind and heart were racing, and he was terrified to think of what might happen if some of the intruders stumbled upon him and Silence. He had brought her into what looked to be the densest part of the woods, but he was sure they wouldn't be safe for very long. He deliberated for a moment, and then picked Silence up and leapt into the air, flapping towards his father's apartment in New York City.

_I hope I can make it before the sun comes up. _Warren's eyes flickered towards the horizon. No light yet. _Good. _He allowed himself a small sigh of relief, and then looked at the young woman in his arms. She wasn't moving, which was good, because Warren was sure he'd drop her if she moved too much, but her breathing was regular, and her eyes were shifting back and forth beneath her eyelids. _She's sleeping… _

When Warren had dived towards the person falling out of the window, the original plan that formed in his mind was to make sure they were alive and without any serious injuries and then leave them in a concealed place in the woods. Whoever he had saved would wake up and find their way to safety, and Warren would head back to his father's apartment and no one would ever know that he had been out flying. But, when he had caught the falling person and discovered it was Silence, all of his plans had – so to speak – gone out the window. He had taken her into a dark part of the woods, checked her for injuries, removed the darts, and now… they were flying towards the one place he _knew _bringing other mutants was a bad idea. He still couldn't figure out how Silence had ended up flying out a window.

The ground disappeared as they momentarily flew into a patch of clouds, and Warren held Silence a little closer. He had figured out that his body was made to deal with the different pressures and temperatures and whatever else came with flying, but Silence's body wouldn't be.

Soon, Warren began to tire. With each flap, pain laced through his wings and down his back, and his arms were beginning to shake with the effort of holding Silence. They were flying through clear sky, and there was a dim grey light smudged across the horizon. The skyscrapers of New York were close, and he could see the building were the apartment was, but he wasn't sure if he could make it before the sun rose. He _had _to. He couldn't very well walk through New York with an unconscious woman and his wings exposed.

_Come on, _he urged himself. _Only a little farther… _

* * *

The car was speeding towards Boston, and the passengers were sitting in complete silence. Mina, in the form of a fox and seated on John's lap, was shaking from fear, exhaustion and cold; John's hands on her back were doing little to keep away any of those things. After a moment more, she curled herself into a tight ball and pressed herself against John's stomach. That took the edge off the cold she was feeling, and allowed her mind to wander to other things, more important things, which wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Jaklyn.

Had she survived her animalistic tirade? Was she injured? Had she had been captured by the soldiers? Had she escaped? Where was she now?

Silence.

What the hell had happened to her? One minute she'd been behind Mina and the next, gone. Had she been captured or injured? Had she run off to cause more damage? Was she laying in the hallway of the mansion, bleeding and dying?

No. Mina forced herself not to think about anything like that. She curled up closer to John, whimpering slightly as she pushed thoughts of her friends lying dead from her mind. John's hands pressed firmly on her back, stroking her silver fur, trying to calm her. He could tell she was distressed, and he was trying to calm her down without letting any of the others in the car know. John wasn't exactly the type of person to display his affections publicly. He had a reputation, after all. Mina didn't mind in the slightest. She just snuggled closer to his stomach, savouring the warmth and attention, however minor.

They drove and drove, the night eventually fading away and a warm sun taking the moon's place. Mina had fallen asleep on John's lap at some point and was awoken when a ray of sunlight came through the back window and landed on her side. She yawned and stretched in her animal way. John, Bobby and Rogue were all still asleep and only Logan was still awake, his eyes tired but his jaw set in determination. He had obviously driven through the night. Mina slipped off John's lap and sat on the armrest between the front seats.

"Did you sleep OK kid?" Logan asked. His eyes were searching the sides of the roads. Mina looked at the gauges on the dash – he was looking for a gas station. He looked down at her suddenly. "Well, did ya?"

Mina nodded as Logan found a gas station and pulled in. It was self-service, which was good, because one of the attendants, all of which were teenagers, might have asked some awkward questions about why they were all still in their pajamas and why was there a fox in the front seat. Logan paid for the gas and picked up some snacks and drinks. When he climbed back into the car her tossed the snacks into the back seat, waking up the boys and then drove off. Mina sat in the middle of the backseat and chewed on some of the beef jerky Logan had picked up. We arrived at Bobby's parent's house soon after that and quickly made their way inside where Bobby promised to find them some clothes. Logan made his way into the kitchen, no doubt to look for some beer, and Mina trotted along behind, exploring the house still as a fox.

She met a cat.

Hissing and spitting, the cat lunged at Mina, teeth bared and paws tensed; if the cat had still had claws, they would have been out. Mina leapt backwards, hissing in her own right, back arched. The cat smacked Mina across the face with its paws and just as Mina was about to retaliate, John came into the room and shooed the cat away, saving the day.

"It's safe to change back Mina," he said quietly.

With the slight sounds of shifting bone and muscle, Mina stood where the fox had a moment ago, her auburn hair still in bed head state. She ran her fingers through it, trying to tame the mane. Giving up, she sighed and walked to John's side and looked at the picture which had captivated her boyfriend's attention. It was a family portrait of the Drakes. "You OK John?" she asked, knowing that families hit a soft spot in the fiery youth.

"Silence is my only family, Mina… she's the only one who knows all that I've been through." He sighed heavily. "Seeing families like that," he gestured vaguely to the picture. "It just makes me so God damned angry."

At that moment, Bobby came down holding two bundles of clothes in his arms. "These are some of my brother's clothes, John," he said tossing one bundle to him. He looked at Mina. "I found some of my mom's old clothes, but like I told Rogue, I think they're from before I was born, so they might be a little… out of date."

"That's fine." She took the clothes and walked into the bathroom to change.

* * *

Warren hadn't been able to make it into the city before the sun had risen, and without his trench coat, there was no way he could get through the city on foot. He had been forced to land in a patch of forest a few miles outside of the city and find a suitable place to hide. Silence's wounds had stopped bleeding, but without proper treatment, they could get infected and they would leave nasty scars. Her body temperature had also dropped rather significantly so, not really knowing what was wrong, but knowing it was bad, he sat down with his back against his tree, pulled Silence close so her back was against his chest and wrapped his wings around them both. Once he had calmed down a bit, the exhaustion barreled down on him and Warren closed his eyes. His head sunk forward to rest on top of Silence's and he fell asleep.

The sound of crunching footsteps awoke him a few hours later. Panic gripped Warren and he wanted to move, hide, but his muscles had seized up from the strange workout they had received the night before.

"Oh my God! Is she OK?"

Warren's head snapped up to find two hikers, a man and a woman, approaching them. His first thought was fear. They had obviously noticed his exposed wings, and what if they were mutant haters? Warren realized then the woman's concern was for Silence. "She's… I don't know," he said quietly. "Her wounds aren't bleeding, but… I don't have anything to cover them with."

"Don't worry," the young woman said, smiling a friendly smile. "We've got first aide supplies in our kits." She waved the man who Warren assumed was her husband or boyfriend.

"You… You don't mind that we're mutants?" Warren asked cautiously as the woman retrieved the kits. He opened his wings and sat forward, folding them behind his back to let the pair close to Silence. At the woman's request, he lay Silence flat on the ground. "I mean… even with all the news?"

"Heavens no." The woman smiled again and then looked at her husband.

"My mother was a mutant," he said, speaking for the first time. He had a firm, friendly voice and Warren was sure he was telling the truth. "And a couple of the people I work with are mutants. I don't see any reason why we should hate them all. Obviously, it's only a small group of you that are dangerous. My wife agrees."

"It's just like any race or religion. There's always a few bad eggs."

Warren smiled and watched in silence as the couple cleaned Silence's wounds and wrapped them in clean white bandages. Before they left, they gave Warren some food to last through the day and the woman wrapped Silence in her zip-up sweater. Warren watched them continue their hike and said a silent thank you to God that there were decent people out there who were willing to help mutants as well as humans. He retreated farther into the woods, and once again curled up with Silence and wrapped them in his wings to keep warm.

* * *

The kids were all calm. Which was a first, to be sure. Kitty had taken charge and had the older children helping to clean and bandage any wounds anyone had received in the invasion of their home. Peter had put Jaklyn in one of the smaller bedrooms and shut the door to keep people from bothering her. The last Kitty had seen, Jaklyn had still been unconscious, and Kitty was saving her treatments for last. Peter had not spoken to Kitty since they had got to the safe house. In fact, he hadn't said much to anyone, except to reassure the young kids that things would be OK.

"Kitty, where's Jean?" one of the little girls with telepathic ability asked.

"She's busy doing work for the professor." Kitty smiled down at the girl, finished cleaning her scraped knees and sent her off. "Jean will be back soon." _I hope. God, I hope they __**all **__come back soon. _All of the adults, Silence, Mina, John, Bobby and Rogue were all gone from the mansion, and Kitty wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up the façade of being strong. She was tired and hungry and she sick of worrying that those soldiers were going to find the safe house and kill them all.

Soon, all of the children had settled in somewhat and were gathered in their regular groups, talking and playing games with whatever they could find in the cupboards and closets. Kitty glanced towards Peter, who was sitting on a rather old-looking couch, reading a book. She could see the worry and the anger and the frustration on his face and she wanted to comfort him, but something held her back. Kitty knew those emotions were not for her, and that hurt. They were for Jaklyn… Kitty's eyes found the door of the bedroom where she was, and with a sigh, she gathered up the medical supplies she thought she might need and proceeded into the dark room to the back coroner where Jaklyn was sleeping soundly on the dark sheets.

"Jaklyn?"

The body covered in dried blood stirred.

"Jaklyn? Come on, wake up. I need to clean you up." Kitty knew Jaklyn had some healing powers, but there were some deep cuts still visible that should be bandaged.

Again, Jaklyn stirred, unintelligible mumbles issuing form her mouth.

Kitty sat down on the end up the bed, placed the medical things beside her and put her hand on Jaklyn's leg and shook her a bit. Jaklyn's eye snapped open and she sat up. She stared at Kitty for a moment, ferocity in her cobalt eye. The tense moment passed and Jaklyn shook her head. Her eye found her hand, covered in blood and her mouth fell open; Kitty saw that her eye teeth seemed permanently to be fangs now.

"What… What did I do…?" She looked up at Kitty again, pleading for answers. "Why am I covered in blood? What happened? What did I do?"

Kitty realized Jaklyn was about to have an attack of some kind. She leapt to her feet and moved to Jaklyn's side. Part of her told Kitty not to help this girl who was stealing Peter away, but the larger part, the better part won over and Kitty coaxed Jaklyn to lie back down on her side, and, gently rubbing her arm and whispering "It's OK" over and over again, prevented the attack.

"Listen to me Jaklyn. Some men, we think they were soldiers of some kind, broke into the mansion. They kidnapped some of the kids, and hurt a lot more of them. The older students, including you, fought to protect the kids and the mansion and we killed some of the men. That's why you're bloody…" Kitty swallowed and closed her eyes. "You were protecting your home, your classmates, your friends and yourself. It's OK." Peter had told Kitty about the finger Jaklyn had been holding when she'd found him, but Kitty figured Jaklyn didn't need to hear about those details. "It's OK, Jaklyn. But now, I need to clean you up so none of your wounds get infected and so you don't get sick, all right?"

When Jaklyn nodded, Kitty helped her to her feet and led the way to the bathroom. Jaklyn sat in bathtub and stared blankly at the wall as Kitty dumped warm water over her and washed the blood away as gently as she could. She washed and brushed Jaklyn's hair the best she could, but she had to resort to cutting out the more matted parts. Kitty uncovered three deep gashes along Jaklyn's hips that looked like they were made my a knife, as well as many bruises and minor cuts. Jaklyn's healing powers didn't seem to be working, and Kitty hypothesized that was because of her exhaustion. Gently, and in silence, just as she had done everything else, Kitty disinfected and bandaged all of Jaklyn's cuts, wrapped her swollen ankle tightly and dressed her in sweatpants and a t-shirt she found in one of the storage closets.

"You should rest some more… It'll be good for you."

Again, all Jaklyn did was nod and allow Kitty to help her back into the bed.

"Why are you helping me, Kitty?" she asked quietly as the other girl was walking away. "Shouldn't you be mad at me or something?"

"I am, but that doesn't mean I should let you suffer like that."

Kitty heard Jaklyn sigh as she closed the door and leaned backwards against it. She sighed as well, and looked towards where Peter was sitting. _Might as well get this over with… _"Peter… Can we talk?" She sat down on the couch beside him and looked at her hands folded in her lap.

"Sure. What is on your mind?"

Tears bubbled in the corners of her eyes as she tried to force the words to come out. "I think… I don't think we should… be together anymore, Peter." She looked up at him and promptly burst into tears. "I don't think we can… You care too much about Jaklyn… You should be with her…" And not being able to say anymore or look at her now ex-boyfriend, Kitty got to her feet and walked into the bedroom where the girls would be staying.


	14. Chapter Fourteen : Lonliness and Hatred

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Fourteen / _Loneliness and Hatred_

* * *

Her mind had been wandering, lost, for several hours, and when Jaklyn finally came completely into her normal consciousness, she didn't remember much. She remembered Kitty cleaning her wounds, but that was it. She didn't know where she was, how she had gotten there, why she wasn't in the mansion, or where anyone was. The room Jaklyn was in was dark, almost too dark to see anything, even for Jaklyn's heightened senses, but she was alone and she knew it. She didn't know if there was anyone outside the faint outline of the door she could see. For all she knew, she was locked somewhere in the subbasement for something that she did…

_Blood pouring down her throat, hot and sweet; screams as she tore through the flesh beneath her. _

She screamed and curled into a fetal position on the small bed, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her head in her hands. Was that a memory? Had she done that? Was is possible? Was she capable of that? Of course she was… She was an animal.

_Knives slicing through skin and muscle, connecting with bone, jarring her hand and hurting her wrist; bodies collapsing around her; growls thundering through her. _

What was she seeing? What were these terrible images? _Oh God… They __**are**__ memories… I must have killed and that's why they locked me in here… _Jaklyn felt like a dog that was being punished – being locked in its cage for unknown lengths of time. She curled farther in on herself, tears starting to fall from her good eye, but she didn't sob or choke, she just stared blankly ahead, afraid more images would come if she closed her eyes, if she screamed. She did not want to see anymore, she wanted to go back to sleep, she wanted to go back to not remembering what had happened; not that she remembered everything, of course, but what was coming back was painful enough.

A different thought struck her then. What had happened to Mina? To Piotr? To everyone else? What would Silence think when she came back? If she ever came back… Jaklyn shook her head, trying to gather herself together and stop crying. All she wanted was to know why she was in here and where everyone else was. She just wanted to have some sense of control again; some sense of knowing things. She was very confused and didn't like it one bit.

Jaklyn laid there in silence, staring at the wall, for a good half an hour, her senses tuned to the world around her. She was hoping she would hear something to tell her other people were around, but it was no good. All she could hear was a faint humming and the buzz of electronics somewhere. That _could_ mean people, but she wasn't sure, and in her depressive state, she convinced herself she was hearing things. It wasn't until the door hissed open fifteen minutes later she realized she wasn't.

Piotr walked into the room, a tray in his hands. A steaming bowl and mug sat on the tray, delicious aromas flirting around Jaklyn's nose: beef and vegetable stew and tea. He stood beside her bed and waited for her to sit up and then placed the tray gently in her lap. For a moment, he just stood there, looking at her, and it seemed as if he was arguing with himself about sitting down or talking to her or just leaving; obviously something had happened that was keeping him from doing something he would have without thought before. Finally he sat down on the end of her bed, the metal frame creaking slightly under his weight, and he smiled at her. "How are you feeling?" he asked. His voice was friendly and kind like always, but there was a lack of something that had always been there before. Something that Jaklyn hadn't noticed until it was gone.

"I'm sore… stiff." Jaklyn twirled the spoon around the bowl and then looked up at him. "I don't remember anything except a lot of blood and tearing… and violence." The tears bubbled up again. "What happened Piotr?"

He sighed and placed a hand on her leg. "I do not know, Jaklyn. I wish I could tell you," he said, his voice quieter and firmer than before, and that quality still missing. "You found me before I left the mansion, and you were covered in blood. You were in pretty rough shape and you were holding a severed finger…" he said slowly, cautiously. "I did not see you before then."

Jaklyn swallowed and took a gulp of tea. She changed the subject. "Where is everyone else?"

Again, Piotr sighed. "Mina, John and Bobby ran off with Logan. I think they took a car and got away. They were headed towards the passage to the garage. I'm not sure, but they are will Logan, so they will be safe. The Professor, Scott, Jean and Storm did not come back. Kitty and I got you and most of the children down here to the safe house, and Silence… I do not know what happened to her. And I do not know what happened to the children who aren't down here with us. I think they may have been captured."

"Silence came back?"

Piotr nodded, and squeezed her leg a bit. "We are going to stay down here for another night, just to make sure it is safe. You should eat and then rest. We're all just in the main room if you need anything. You should come out when you feel you're strong enough. I imagine your healing powers would have started working again after you got some rest." Slowly, he took Jaklyn's hand in his own and unwound the bandage. The deep cut had all but vanished – only a faint reddish line remained. He smiled once more, rewrapped her hand and then got to his feet and headed towards the door. "I'm glad you are all right Jaki," he whispered as he left, that unnamed quality finally creeping back into his voice.

* * *

Bobby's house quickly got very, very crowded and uncomfortable. His parents and brother came home, and after being introduced to a startled Logan, drinking beer greedily from their fridge, were told that their son was a mutant. By their son himself. Mina stood by John and his clicking lighter the whole time, worried, scared, nervous for Bobby. He was her friend, but she couldn't help. He had to do _this _by himself, and after what had happened to her when her parents had found out her secret, she was very afraid for him. His brother, Ronny, had an angry look on his face and it called up unwanted images of her sister. But, instead of attacking his brother like Mina was sure he wanted to, he lunged up the stairs and disappeared behind a slamming door. Mina winced and pressed closer to John, whose clinking lighter no longer filling the room.

A tense silence had filled that space.

"Have… Have you tried not being a mutant?" Bobby's mother asked, leaning towards her son over the half-sphere of ice that had been tea.

At that John walked into an adjoining room and Mina followed.

"How stupid is that woman?"

"John… Don't get so worked up. Finding out that your son is a mutant is a big deal for non-mutant parents. And it took a lot of guts for Bobby to tell them himself. They're dealing with it well."

John rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. "Whatever. His brother didn't look to happy and I know better than anyone that angry siblings are dangerous. He's going to do something stupid and we're going to get in trouble."

"Maybe, but don't you do anything rash."

"Of course you'd think that. What? Don't I have any self control?"

"Sometimes you don't! I'm just asking you to be careful. If Ronny does call the police or whatever, don't set the whole fucking house on fire, OK?" Mina's eyes flashed and her shoulders knotted like they always did when she was angry. "I don't want to get taken away when we just escaped with our lives."

"Whatever."

John stalked back towards the living room and Mina followed a moment later, mumbling incoherently to herself. The air in the living room had gone from tense to a whole other world of uncomfortable. Logan was on the back porch, talking on the weird X-shaped phone they had found in the car, the look on his face become increasingly more worried; Logan worried was bad. Bobby was still sitting on the couch and Rogue was behind him, her gloved hands on his shoulders in the most protective gesture Mina had seen the reclusive teenager give. Mina moved closer to Bobby and away from John, not wanting to spike another argument between them.

_God we've been arguing a lot lately… The only time we've actually gotten along is when our lives were in danger… _She hung her head slightly, her fingers digging into the white couch. Bobby turned his head up and offered a small smile that Mina forced herself to return. _What's happening to us…? _

"We've got to go. Now." Logan's voice boomed into the pressing quiet of the room. His arms tensed as he walked towards the front door, and Mina could have sworn she saw his claws pressing against the outer layers of skin. Something _was _happening.

Bobby, Mina, Rogue and John fell into step behind Logan and the small group gathered on the narrow porch, Logan standing in the forefront, his arms raised slightly and his claws extended, sparkling in the midday sunlight. He was using himself as a shield, knowing that if anything happened to the kids, he would be in trouble. Mina was standing beside Bobby and a little behind John. She stepped closer to Bobby and he place a hand on her back, reassuringly and brotherly. It was more than John would have done in his current state.

A police man popped up over the railing, his gun leveled at Logan's head. "Put the knives down," he said, warning heavy in his voice. The gun was shaking slightly.

_Oh great, a nervous cop… _Mina veered into her fox form and stood ready at Bobby's feet. She started shaking as the cop pointed his gun at her for a moment, but he evidently deiced Logan was still more dangerous with his "knives". _We need to get out of here… _She glanced over at the blue car, now trapped in the driveway by the family car. _No luck there… I hope Logan was talking to Jean or Storm on that phone… They've got the jet. _

"Put the knives down," the cop said again.

"I can't." Logan raised his hands to show the cops that the knives were attached to his hands and he wasn't holding them. "I'll show you."

A gunshot rang out and Logan crashed to the deck in front of them. Rogue screamed and, as the three kids and small fox were forced to their bellies on the wood, she crawled towards the fallen man. Mina had been started, yes, but she knew that Logan's healing abilities were more than capable of expelling a bullet from his brain. Between the girls, John was still standing, a determined, angry look on his face; no doubt the anger from arguing with Mina was contributing.

"You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about on the news?" he asked, addressing the right fleet of cops gathered on the front lawn. _Click, click _went his lighter.

_Oh God John, don't… _She closed her eyes and turned her muzzle towards Bobby, not wanted to watch and afraid to stop what he was going to do next.

"I'm the worst one."

She didn't have to be looking.

Fireballs tumbled from John's hand, his lighter clicking furiously, and she could feel the intense heat from what he expelled. She heard screams and bangs as police cars went flying into the air and landed on the ground. The smells of burning flesh and vegetation filled the air and Mina squeezed her eyes shut and wished she could do the same with her nose. She knew she should stop him. Bite his arm or something. But she couldn't. She was very angry with him, but she couldn't do it. There was something stopping her. She didn't have to though. There was a sudden absence of sound, and a gasp flew from John's lips. A sucking sound followed. Mina knew what was happening.

In the blink of an eye, Mina had transformed back to her human form and leapt across the space, pushing Rogue away from her boyfriend's exposed ankle, her hands tight on Rogue's shoulders, and her fingers digging in. In self-defense, Rogue's hands flew up to push Mina off her, and her bare hand connected with Mina's cheek. Her whole body tensed as jolt after jolt thundered through her bones and if Logan hadn't regenerated right then, and pulled Mina away, she might never have recovered.

* * *

The X-Jet sped back towards the mansion, Mina seated as far from Rogue as possible. John was beside her.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she snapped, glaring out the window at nothing in particular. "You?"

"I'm fine. You should clam down a bit. I could have taken that."

Mina turned her glare on John. "Oh, calm down? Right, because if I hadn't knocked her hand away from you, you might be unconscious right now or even permanently damaged." Her voice was a harsh whisper, so no one would hear. Of course, Logan with his super ears and Jean with her spastic telepathy would hear, but they wouldn't say anything; Mina actually felt a lot more at ease on the jet with Logan, Jean and Storm, three very powerful mutants. "God John, you really can't just say thank you?"

"You didn't have to get yourself hurt to protect me, Mina. I can take care of myself."

"Oh, of course you can. Right, I forgot." Mina turned away from him, crossing her arms underneath her breasts and expelling a short, quick breath of frustration. "You don't _need _anyone."

"Mina, what the hell is your problem?"

"Maybe it's the fact that we can't have a conversation without getting angry at each other any more? Maybe it's all your talk about not fitting in at the mansion? I don't know. It could also be your overwhelming ability to _push everyone away._ I thought we had reached some level of understanding John. We were good for a while there…"

John didn't say anything. Just like him. When Mina looked out the corner of her eye towards him, she found that he was staring blankly ahead, his jaw working in frustration and grinding his teeth together. Mina looked out the window again, refusing to let her tears fall.


	15. Chapter Fifteen : Apologies

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Fifteen / _Apologies_

* * *

Kitty stood, staring at the door to the room where Jaklyn was for a long time. No one spared her more than a glance, and Peter didn't look her way at all. He knew what she was about to do. She was going to tell Jaklyn about the break up. But man, it was taking a lot more courage than Kitty had thought it would to push through that door. The hurt was still fresh, but there was no better time than the present to deal with what was right in front of you.

Finally, Kitty opened the door and stepped into the dark room. Jaklyn was sprawled not so gracefully on the last bed, still asleep; her very dark brown hair with the streak of electric blue over her right eye fanned out around her and draped off the edges of the single bed, giving her the look of having weird droopy wings. Most of her wounds had healed as she slept, and Jaklyn had obviously scratched the bandages off to get at the itchy healing spots; there was a scattering of white fabric and tape on the floor around the bed. Jaklyn's mouth hung open and the way she was breathing reminded Kitty of the way a dog sleeps, which only made sense.

Not wanting to wake up someone who had tendencies to snap and who was developing quite the temper, Kitty sat down on the bed next to Jaklyn's and waited patiently. She settled her back against the pillow, the shape of the metal bars of the headboard pressing into her skin even though the thick padding. Kitty tucked a stray strand of her brown hair behind her ear, her blue eyes settling on Jaklyn's form again. She looked peaceful, even if several of her more beast-like traits had become semi-permanent. Her eye teeth had shrunk, but they were still in the shape of fangs, and her nails looked a little more like claws, and they had taken on the red-black colour as well. She had taken on a sort of feral beauty, and the thick scars marring her left eye and side of her face only added to that. Kitty found jealousy bubbling behind her breastbone and she suppressed it with a huff. She was still trying to be mad at Jaklyn for stealing Peter.

After a few more minutes, Jaklyn started to stir, no doubt sensing someone else in the room even through the fog of sleep. Her right eye fluttered open, the scars where her left one used to be twitched uselessly, and she rolled onto her side, facing Kitty. "You could have woken me up, you know," she said, sounding more like herself.

"I didn't want to bother you. You need rest." Kitty turned and hung her legs over the side of the bed. "But I do need to talk to you…" Kitty felt her eyes drop to the floor and she forced them back up to look the other girl in the face. This was important and you didn't look at the floor when talking about important things. "It's about Pete…" That was all Kitty could get out in one breath, as she suddenly found herself unable to breathe properly.

Jaklyn pushed herself in a sitting position across from Kitty, worry etching lines in her face. "What? Did something happen to him?" Even through her distress, Kitty had to marvel at how fast Jaklyn's accent was fading – it was almost as faint as Peter's was now. "Is he OK?"

"Yeah… It's nothing serious." Tears budded at the corners of Kitty's eyes, against her will, and started falling down her cheeks. "I wanted to tell you… I thought you should know… And I had to tell someone, I just can't not have anyone know…" Kitty was crying rather uncontrollably, more than she had when she'd broken up with Peter, and she didn't know why, but all the emotion was coming out now. "We… I… I broke up with Peter…"

Jaklyn didn't say anything. Instead, she moved to the bed that Kitty was sitting on, and even though Kitty had said mean things to her and hadn't been very nice in general, Jaklyn wrapped her arms around Kitty and held her as she cried. Jaklyn held her as a friend would have and just let her get all her sadness out. Kitty eventually calmed herself down and, breathing in the strange but not unpleasant smell of Jaklyn, forced herself to stop crying. She had to talk. She had to explain, to follow the sensible, logical pattern of action.

"Jaklyn, I…" Kitty wiped at her cheeks. "I broke up with Peter because he… he started paying more attention to you. He seemed to care about you more and treated me more as a friend." Kitty was surprised to find herself not as bitter as she had been.

The bigger girl seemed a little taken aback by that statement, and for a long, few moments, she didn't say anything. "Bloody hell… I'm sorry Kitty. I didn't mean to do anything of the sort." The two girls now sat across from each other on the same bed, and Jaklyn placed a comforting hand on Kitty's shoulder. "I hope you don't hate me too much."

Kitty laughed a bit at that. "Not at all…" She sniffed again and wiped at her eyes. "I actually wanted to apologize for being so mean to you before. I should have realized what might happen when we discovered the history between you and Peter. You can't stop a connection like that from becoming something really special. I mean, he saved your life, Jaki." Kitty stopped then. "You don't mind if I call you that, do you? I've heard Silence and Mina use that nickname, but I know they're a lot closer friends than you and I."

"I didn't actually know we were still friends," Jaklyn confessed. "After you yelled, I kind of thought you hated me."

"I did. But fleeing for your life can make you reevaluate your actions."

"You weren't wrong to be mad at me, Kitty."

"Maybe not. But after I bandaged your wounds and washed away all that blood, I decided it was better to have you on my side than mad at me."

The girls paused for a moment and then both of them tossed their heads back in laughter.

* * *

It would be normal to think that a plane hurtling towards the ground and then being stopped by an unnatural and very sudden magnetic force might knock some sense into its passengers. That wasn't the case with the mutants on the X-Jet. Only Storm and the blue-skinned, spiky-tailed and pointy-eared mutant who called himself Nigthcrawler and who the older women had picked up in Boston seemed completely in control of their senses. Rogue, who had been sent flying into the sky after the missile Jean couldn't deflect had exploded the back of the plane, was still shaken and clinging to a Bobby who was equally shaken by the prospect of losing his girlfriend. Jean was shaken from exhaustion and fright and unleashing that much power and Logan was worried about her, and when that happened, the rugged man ended up with a one-track mind. And Mina and John were still steamed at each other.

Currently, Mina was seated on a log beside Nightcrawler, watching John from across the fairly lengthy distance. She had taken a liking to the blue mutant and his pacifist ways. His German-accented voice calmed her.

"Why are you so angry, Mina?" he asked.

"My boyfriend is an ass."

"What did he do?"

"He got mad at me for helping him and he keeps talking about leaving the mansion and not fitting in and when he says things like that, he makes it sound as if he wants to get away from me."

Nightcrawler placed his two-fingered hand on her shoulder. "I do not think that is what he means. If he is uncomfortable at this mansion, I can not see why it would be because of you, especially because you seem to care about him so much."

"There are only two people he really trusts and cares about, and that's me and his sister, who is God knows where right now. We don't even know if she's still alive – I saw her fall out a window. John may not think there is enough to stay at the mansion for."

"Why do you not go and talk to him? It may help."

Mina sighed and nodded. She got to her feet and started walking to where John and Bobby were setting up the self-inflating tents. What was she going to say? She thought up several things she _could _say as she neared the fiery youth, but none of them seemed appropriate or calm enough; many sounded as if they would send the pair into heated arguments again, and she didn't really have any energy to fight. The truth was, regardless of what she said or how she said it, if John was still steamed, there would be another fight. That's just how things went when your boyfriend was a mutant with a personality to match his mutation.

"John, can we talk?" she asked cautiously, standing a few steps behind him; she stared at his back as he sighed and wondered if he would turn around. "Please?"

He finally turned. "What?" His eyes flashed for a moment, containing the same flickering flames that Silence's eyes did when she was in a heightened state of emotion.

"I just wanted to apologize. I guess I kind of overacted before."

"Yeah, you did." He turned back around, making no acknowledgement to her apology.

Mina growled. "What the _hell _is your problem? What the _fuck _did I to make you so bloody angry at me?" She flung her arms out to the sides in a gesture of frustration. "I'm helpless here, John. Why don't you tell me so we can figure this out instead of just yelling at each other all the time? Because yelling obviously isn't solving anything."

"There's nothing wrong."

"Don't you fucking _lie _to _me _anymore." Mina's voice had dropped and her whole body had tensed.

"I'm _not _lying."

Mina growled again, her fingers curling into claws and her lip curling back over her teeth. She only got this animalistic when she was _very _angry. For a moment, she seriously contemplated attacking John, maybe knock some sense into him. But her sense of reason took over and she turned her back on him, running her fingers back through her auburn hair. "Please John," she pleaded once she had calmed down. Now, she was fighting to hold back tears. "I _know _you're angry about something and I want to know so I can help." She turned back around, hands dropping to her sides. "Please John?"

"I don't want your help. I don't want anyone's help."

"_**Fine**_. At least I won't go insane anymore from trying to help you. You are _impossible. _I have no idea how Silence dealt with you all those years."

It was a low blow – anything pertaining to the Allerdyce children's past was. Mina _knew _it was a low blow, but she did not expect John's reaction. He lashed out. He snapped. And he _hit _Mina. Smacked her across the face. Mina stepped backwards, hand flying up to her right cheek, tears streaming down from disbelieving eyes. With a look of hurt, Mina turned and walked towards the plane where Jean was working, trying to repair their only mode of transportation. She found the older woman inside and was grateful when she was allowed to huddled in a corner, alone but with a pair of watchful eyes on her, and cry.

* * *

Silence nearly had a heart attack when she finally came to complete consciousness. She had no idea where she was – all she knew was that it wasn't the mansion. The bed beneath her was huge, soft and warm, the ceiling above her was high and the air around her was dim and soft. Her crimson eyes flicked around, looking for a clock, found one, and she determined that it was evening. The sun was setting, casting blinding reflections to dance off the windows of skyscrapers… Skyscrapers? Silence unfurled herself from the thick blankets and strode over to the window. Sure enough, she could see Central Park.

_That means I'm back in the city. But… I went back. I fought all those soldiers. And then I fell out a window. How the hell did I get back to the city? I thought I was dead… _She turned around, and a pain flared up in her left side. _Shit. What the hell? _Gingerly, she touched her side and found a thick wad of bandage. _Oh God, what the __**hell **__happened? _She looked around the room, found it richly decorated, but, besides the mess she had made of the bed, there weren't many signs of the room being lived in. Slowly, she made her way back over to the bed, and flopped down backwards, wincing again as her side protested the sudden flush of movement. _Shut up, _she silently told her body. _I'm going to enjoy this for as long as it lasts. Which… probably won't be long. _

The sound of a door creaking brought all her battle-trained senses into full swing. Silence was just about to lunge at the intruder when she caught a glimpse of blond hair and a shimmer of incandescent white. "Warren?"

He visibly sighed and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "I was hoping you'd be awake."

Silence sat up and flung her legs over the corner of the bed, a hint of a devious smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. "How'd I get here?" she asked.

Warren walked farther into the room until he was standing fairly close to the bed. He wasn't wearing his trench coat, and the faint shadows under her eyes made him look very tired. "I was… Silence, I was out flying!" Excitement worked its way into his voice and his eyes lit up. Silence smiled in response, but let him continue. "I was near the mansion, and I… well, a window exploded and I caught you, although I didn't know it was you until I caught you. I brought you here."

"How long was I out?"

"Almost twenty-four hours." He looked at the clock and then nodded, more to himself, confirming what he'd said. "All your wounds were bandaged by a hiker who found us." He paused, realized that she had no idea what he was talking about, then said: "I had to hide during the day." Warren shrugged absent-mindedly, blushing a little bit. "I didn't want to be noticed. It was risky though… I didn't know how bad your wounds were."

Silence shrugged with one shoulder and rose to her feet. "Eh. I'm strong. I can take it." She stepped closer to Warren, who blushed a little more. "Thank you Warren. Even though I'm strong, you saved my life. I don't think I could have survived falling out that window." And in one quick motion, she threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace; she smirked a little as she felt his chest swell against her and his arms awkwardly return the gesture. "Where are we anyways?" she asked, changing the subject and releasing herself from the gesture.

"It's my father's apartment," he answered quietly.

From their conversations earlier, Silence had learned that Warren's father, Warren Sr., had a strange view about mutants. He didn't hate them. He just thought they were sick and needed help. A cure needed to be found, and when his son had started sprouting wings, he started pouring money into developing that very thing. He didn't _like _mutants, but he wasn't the kind of man to discriminate against someone just because they were a mutant. Not according to Warren anyway. Silence had wanted to meet him and test that theory, but it never happened when she had been in New York City before. Maybe this time.

"And he's OK with me being here?"

Warren looked at the floor, red working its way into his cheeks for a different reason – he was ashamed. "He doesn't know." His voice was quieter than before. "He's out and will be until late tonight. I kind of figured he wouldn't have to know."

Something in his voice told Silence he didn't lie very often and he was rather uncomfortable; something in her head told her he wouldn't have lied before he'd met her. "I see I'm having some sort of effect on you." Again, she moved closer to him. "First you're out flying and now you're keeping a mutant girl in your room and your father doesn't know." Silence smirked. "Maybe you're not quite the angel I thought you were." It was a joke, but Warren still blushed.

"Are… are you feeling OK? Your wounds, I mean… They're not bothering you?" he stammered.

Silence shook her head, tangled bunches of hair flinging into her face. "Nope. I'm a little stiff and my side hurts if I move it the wrong way, but I'm fine. Sleeping for almost a day will do that." She flicked her eyes over Warren's body, checking him for wounds. She noticed he was wearing his harness and frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. "How about you? Are you all right? You said you haven't flown before and now you've made a trip to the mansion and back. You must be tired?"

He nodded.

"Have you slept?"

He shook his head. After a moment, he said very quietly, "Not really… I was worried about you. You didn't move for a long time. You only started coming around a few hours ago."

It felt like she had been punched in the stomach. All the breath whooshed from her lungs and a great heat flushed in her cheeks. Rapidly, the warmth spread through her whole body, and for once, she had nothing to say. No one had _ever _told them they were worried about her and really meant it. She knew that John had worried about her, but he never _told _her. She knew that her friends worried about her, but when they said it, it was expected. It was hard to explain how she felt, but hearing Warren say that he was worried about her… It made her heart flutter and her body temperature rise and her tongue tie and her breath catch and… Not even Jaime had done that to her in _any _situation. _**Any **_situation.

"I… You…" Silence fell backwards onto the bed. "You shouldn't have done that for me." She looked up at him and smiled. "You should sleep… I should be getting back to the mansion… See what state everything's in…" But she didn't move. Instead, she fell backwards, the fatigue from her injuries combined with the overwhelming emotions and heat swimming through her body sucking all of the energy she had mustered for those few short moments.

Warren smiled to himself, his cheeks red, and maneuvered Silence back under the covers of his bed. Then, silently as he could manage, he left his room and let her sleep.

* * *

Jean knelt down, making sure her face was in front of Mina's swollen eyes and tearstained cheeks. "How are you feeling Mina?" The older woman shifted so she was sitting, leaning on the wall beside her young charge. Her short-cropped fire red hair bounced slightly with the motion.

Mina sobbed once, wiping at her eyes with childlike fists. "B-better I guess…" She tried to smile but only dissolved into more tears, leaning on Jean's shoulder for support. "He hit me, Jean…"

Embracing Mina in a one-armed hug, she hushed her with soft noises, just like a mother would her child. Jean had always had a maternal streak a mile wide, and working at the mansion, taking care of all the children, was the perfect way, right now, to use it. She did want to have kids of her own someday, but the students at the mansion would always be her kids as well. Some of them, like Mina, she had seen overcome great challenges and grow into their powers and into model citizens. She was so proud of them all, and to see any of them hurting… It wounded her on more than an emotionally. It wounded her on a psychic level too. "I know…" She stroked Mina's soft auburn hair. "And he'll be punished, but don't you worry about him… Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"I… I'd rather not… Not right now…" Mina sobbed.

_No one, especially someone so young, should have to deal with this, _Jean thought. Briefly, she thought back to when her best friend had been hit by a car and her powers had manifested. _But, I guess everyone has their traumas… _Logan's brutish psychic aura suddenly appeared at the edges of her mind, meaning he was close – just outside the jet. "It's all right, Mina… You just stay in here as long as you need to, and I'll be around. I won't leave."

When Mina nodded that she understood, Jean got to feet and descended down the metal stairs, the heels of her boots clinking softly. Logan's back was to her when he finally came into field of view and she sent tendrils of her power into his head, letting him know she was there. As if he didn't already know. He would have sensed her as soon as she started moving. He would have known where she was _before _she stared moving, but he wasn't so rude as to barge in on a private conversation. At least, most of the time he wasn't that rude.

"How are we?" he asked, his gruff voice softer than usual.

She knew what he meant, but she answered him with a more neutral answer, not really wanting to touch on _that _subject. "Fine. We should be able to take off in about five hours or so."

"That's not what I meant."

* * *

Mina smiled slightly to herself as she watched Jean and Logan kiss. It was obvious to everyone the pair had strong feelings for each other, but Jean would never betray Logan and Mina was sure Logan wouldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to. But still, seeing them let their passions free for just a moment…

She had forced herself to stop crying, but she didn't want to leave the safety of the jet. She was comfortable here, and she would find something to do, some way to help Jean, some thing that would keep her from having to go down there was John… where Pyro was and having to face him again. Mina swallowed more tears and crawled onto one of the benches in the back where she lay on her side and waited for Jean to come back up.

* * *

That evening, Jaklyn felt rested enough to venture out into the chaos that was the student body of Xavier's school. Kids were running all over the main room of the safe house, bouncing their various powers off the walls and laughing shrilly. The noise hurt her ears at first, but she quickly adjusted and made her way to the couches were Piotr and some of the older kids were watching television. She was still stiff from her wounds healing and when she sat down, it was in an awkward way; she was forced to stick her leg with the sprained ankle out straight in front of her, propping it up on the table.

"Everyone seems to be going a little crazy cooped up down here," she mumbled.

Piotr turned so his back was in the coroner of the couch and he was facing her. He smiled. "Yeah. We are only going to be down here for tonight though. Everyone should be all right until then. I hope." There was a moment of silence and then concern etched lines in his face. "How are you feeling now?"

"Still stiff. But not as sore." She yawned. "And I'm tired. But I'm feeling better." She shook her head, Kitty and I are… friends again, so things are starting to move in the right direction. Now, we've just gotta get back up to the bloody mansion and…" She paused, realizing what she just said. "Uhm… I didn't mean 'bloody' as in… 'bloody'… I just…"

"I know Jaklyn."

She laughed a bit and then sighed. Again there was a moment of silence. "Kitty… She said… She told me that she had broken up with you… because of me." Jaklyn looked down at her hands in her lap. She studied her claw-like nails, clicked them together. "Is that true?" She looked back up at Piotr, knowing her fangs with probably visible. _I must look insane… With my fangs and claws and scars… _She sighed.

Piotr shifted uncomfortably, ran his fingers back through his hair. "Yes. That is true." He sighed heavily, obviously not comfortable; Jaklyn didn't blame him as the air between them was riddled with tension. "She told me that we couldn't be together anymore because I cared too much about you," his voice dropped and his cheeks flushed red. "She said she thought you and I should be together."

"Oh…" Jaklyn suddenly felt very stupid because she didn't have anything to say; her cheeks also flushed.

"Pete! There's someone coming! They're coming from the air!" one of the older kids yelled. His eyes were fixed on the monitors watching the grounds.

Saved by the security system.


	16. Chapter Sixteen : Reunion and Riches

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Sixteen / _Reunion and Riches _

* * *

When Silence woke up the second time, her shock wasn't quite as, well, shocking. That is to say, she did not nearly have a heart attack that morning. It only took her a moment to remember where she was and for the now familiar excitement to bubble behind her breastbone; excitement over seeing Warren again. She nearly leapt from the bed, but her ribs protested and she flopped back down, the feather pillows giving a soft whooshing sound as she landed. The noise and the feeling made her smile and she closed her eyes again, just enjoying the luxuriousness of the bed. In fact, the whole room, and it wasn't small, was very richly decorated. That made sense – Warren had told Silence his father was rich.

The door creaked on its hinges as it was opened and Warren stepped into the room just as the thought of him crossed Silence's mind. "How are you feeling today?" he asked, his voice quite like it was normally, but there was an eager smile on his smooth face.

Silence rolled onto her side, dug herself farther into the thick comforters, savouring the warmth and ignoring her pains. "Better. My side still hurts." She smiled at him over the pale gold blankets.

He moved to stand close to the bed, his wings twitching against his harness. Warren smiled down at her, a little bit of a blush working its way into his cheeks, and placed a hand lightly on her arm. "That's good. There's breakfast in the kitchen if you're hungry."

Silence nodded and let Warren help her to her feet; only a week ago, Silence wouldn't have let anyone help her do anything unless she was dying. Together, they walked into the hallway, Silence drawing a sharp breath as her bare feet hit the cold marble tiles. As the smells of eggs and bacon reached her nose, she realized just how famished she was and her stomach grumbled loudly. There was a full plate waiting for her at the island in the bright kitchen and she devoured it quickly.

"When was the last time you had something to ate?" Warren asked, sitting on one of the high stools beside her, the tips of his wings nearly touching the floor where they hung down behind him.

She shrugged. "I dunno. I guess it was dinner before I fell out the window. So… a while ago." She grinned and shoveled more food into her mouth. "Is there anymore?" she asked, her words muffled by the food.

He nodded, got her another plate and sat silently by as she ate. When she was full, Warren led her back to his room and into the bathroom where one of the invisible house staff had run a steaming bath. He promised Silence a tour of the apartment afterwards and he left her to clean herself up. She slowly removed her bandages, checking the wounds and smiling when she found them healing nicely; she had seen enough wounds to know what good healing looked like. Completely free of clothes and bandages, Silence slid into the water and slid completely under, letting everything just soak out of her. When she was clean, she climbed slowly out, dried off and redressed. Silence gathered up the pile of fresh bandages which had been supplied and began replacing what she could without help.

A few moments later, she heard Warren come back into his bedroom and she opened the bathroom door.

"Hey," she called. "Can you help me with the bandages on my back?"

Warren jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of her voice, and then nodded, blushing rather. He followed her into the tile-covered bathroom and stood behind her. "Do you feel any better now?" he asked shyly.

She nodded and swept her voluminous reddish hair off her back, holding the wet mass aloof in one hand. With her other hand, she maneuvered her shirt up, exposing the angry red flesh on her back. She smiled to herself as Warren began to replace her bandages. His hands were gentle and his skin was cold and his fingers felt good as they brushed across her skin. When he finished, he gently tapped her shoulder and she turned to face him, hair and shirt falling back into place.

"Would you like that tour now?"

Silence nodded, and followed Warren around the rest of the biggest apartment she had ever seen. Besides Warren's bedroom and bathroom and the kitchen, there were three more large bedrooms, two living rooms, four other bathrooms, a laundry room and a wide balcony that stretched all the way around the floor of the skyscraper. They ended their tour on the balcony and Silence couldn't stop herself from leaning over the edge and looking down at the roads a dizzying distance below. Warren stood nervously beside her, his hand on her back, ready to catch her if, for some reason, she fell; he wondered how someone with several broken ribs and as many wounds as she had could move about so freely. As Warren had watched Silence drift around his apartment, he couldn't believe how smoothly she covered her pain and how brightly she smiled. Every time he had caught her crimson eyes, they sparkled when she smiled and the emotion he could see on her face, the freedom he saw in her, it made him smile. Silence was a free spirit and Warren wished he could be free alongside her.

"This place is beautiful, Warren. I can't believe this is only an apartment," she said, bringing him out of her thoughts. "And if your _apartment _is this nice, I can't imagine what your _house _looks like." She smiled wildly, standing straight up again. Being unconscious, asleep and resting for almost forty-eight hours had given Silence a ton more energy than she normally had, and she always had a lot of energy, so she was near to literally bouncing off the walls. "Tell me about your house!" she demanded, falling backwards onto one of the lounge chairs and wincing briefly when pain flared in her ribs.

He sat down on the edge of the other lounge chair. "It's not a house. My dad has another apartment in San Francisco."

"Ah… is it as big as this one?"

Warren nodded. "I don't know why we have so much space…" The statement wasn't directed at her specifically, more to the air around him.

Silence smiled wider and settled back on her hands. "I think you're lucky. The X-Mansion is the only place I've ever considered home, and I have to share that with a ton of people. I would _love _to have some space to myself." A chilly breeze blew across the balcony, making Silence shiver. Warren didn't even seem to notice it. "And you can't feel cold…" she observed, envy colouring her voice. "I wish I was that lucky."

"You can't feel heat though, can you?"

She lit small balls of fire over her palms and rubbed her arms, trying to ward off the chill. "That's true, but regardless of what temperatures _I_ can or can not feel, can we go back inside?"

Warren laughed and walked to the sliding door to open it, and came face to face with his father. "D-Dad?" he stammered, taking a step backwards; his wings twitched rather violently against his harness. In less time than it took for Silence to blink, Warren's demeanor slipped into that of the completely submissive son; even if Silence didn't know that Warren's father made him feel completely powerless, she would have been able to tell from just watching him at that moment.

The senior Worthington's eyes flicked towards Silence, fire still burning around her hands, and anger etched itself on his face. "Who is she? Is she a mutant?" He advanced on his son and his anger rose and then he looked into his son's blue eyes and his anger faltered. "What… What is she doing here?" he asked, his voice softer than before, full of more concern and less actual anger.

Silence rose to her feet and moved to stand beside Warren, a defiant look on her face, fire flickering around her hands and in her eyes. She was going to stand up for herself and for her friend. "If I may, sir, Warren, your son, saved my life." She gestured to her wounded side and then smiled the most friendly smile she could muster, the fire extinguishing itself. "I was thrown out a window and Warren caught me. He stopped me from bleeding out and brought me here where I would be safe." When Silence realized the older man was wondering how she knew his son, she smiled again. "I was in the city a few days ago and I met your son in the park. He and I bonded because we're both mutants. He is my friend and he helped me when I was dying."

Warren Sr. stumbled over some unspoken words, his eyes flicking between Silence and his son.

"If it makes you feel any better, Mr. Worthington, Warren was going to take me home today."

The elder man only nodded and then turned and left, muttering to himself. Silence turned to look at Warren once his father was gone. She was smiling.

"I-I'm sorry about that," he breathed.

She waved a hand, dismissing him. "Don't worry about it. I was more or less prepared to meet your father and have him hate right off the bat. From what you told me, I'm surprised he didn't kick me out right away. What's he got against mutants anyways?" Silence plants her hands on her hips and ground her teeth against the pain that swelled. "It's not like I'm going to hurt you or anything. God!"

A smile tugged at the corner of Warren's mouth, but he suppressed his laughter. "It's my fault he hates mutants. If I hadn't sprouted wings when I was little, he probably wouldn't care that much. He seems to think mutation is a disease, and, with every disease there is a cure."

"He's trying to find a _cure_?"

Now, Warren did laugh, but not loud enough to bring his father's attention back to the balcony. "Do you want to head back to the mansion now?" he asked after a moment, his wings twitching again.

Silence nodded, a small amount of sadness crossing into her eyes. "Let me help you with your harness." Warren turned around and Silence wound her fingers into the soft white feathers for a moment before she removed the rough leather harness. As his wings snapped out to their full span and then curled back, Silence laughed and ran her hands along his wings and pressed her cheek to them, sighing contently. "I love your wings," she whispered and she smiled as she felt Warren shiver against her.

The moment didn't last long. Warren Sr. came barreling back to balcony as soon as he noticed his son's wings stretched out. His face was red with anger. "Warren, what do you think you're doing? You not allowed to fly! You could be seen! You could get hurt!"

Even thought Silence realized the elder Worthington was worried for his son's well being, she smiled mischievously and wrapped her arms around Warren's neck as he turned around to face his father. Warren gave his father an apologetic look and jumped backwards over the balcony, clutching Silence close to his body. Warren Sr.'s face appeared over the balcony for just a second, but it was enough for Silence to see the lines of worry crease his forehead and to feel a moment of regret for the way she was behaving. She clung tightly to Warren, gasping slightly as he straightened his wings and they began to rise towards the fluffy clouds.

"I'm sorry Warren," she said, forcing her voice to rise above the rushing wind.

He just smiled sadly and angled them towards the mansion.

Silence wasn't sure how long they were flying for, but when the familiar expanse of green came into view beneath them, she felt a surge of happiness and she smiled. She knew no on would be inside the mansion – everyone should be hidden away in the underground safe house, so she pointed Warren in the direction of the entrance and clung to him tighter as he began to descend. When their feet touched the ground, Silence tighter her arms around Warren again, this time in an embrace.

"I really am sorry Warren. I hope you don't get in too much trouble because of me," she mumbled, her face pressed into his bare shoulder.

Blushing, he awkwardly returned the embrace and gently stroked her hair. "Don't worry about it, Silence. I think, in the long run, I'm going to end up thanking your for this."

As Warren pulled away, Silence let her desire take control. She grabbed Warren's shoulder and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him quickly on the lips. "Thanks for everything," she whispered as he blushed deeply. Silence wrapped her arms around his middle again, pressing her face to his chest. Her mouth turned down at the corners as Warren pulled away from her again and took off to the sky, with one small smile in her direction. She watched the sky until she couldn't see him any longer and then for a while longer. Even when she heard the door to the safe house slide open behind her, she just stared at the sky, wishing Warren would have stayed – that he could have stayed. Even as her friends arms encircled her, she just stared at the sky.

* * *

"Silence!" Jaklyn threw her arms into the air as she spotted the fire-coloured hair across the room. "Oh God, I'm glad you're OK!" She grunted as Piotr wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her as gently as he could manage to her feet. Jaklyn ignored the blush in her cheeks and wrapped her arms around Silence. "Where have you been?" she demanded, suddenly aware of tears of happiness in her eye.

"New York," Silence mumbled, returning Jaklyn's embrace with less than half of the enthusiasm.

_Well, it's nice to see you too. _"Aren't you happy to be back?"

Silence looked up and Jaklyn bit her lip at the sadness. "Yeah, sure."

Jaklyn fell into Piotr's side as Silence walked into the room where Jaklyn had spent most of her time in bed. "Well then…" She sighed and blushed as she realized Piotr's arm had wound its way around her waist again. "Help me sit back down." It wasn't that Jaklyn couldn't move on her own, it was just faster if Piotr helped her, and she liked it when she was wrapped in his arms. "What do you think is the matter with her?" she asked.

Piotr was thoughtful for a moment. "I'm going to guess that she misses whoever took her to New York."

Another silence settled between them as she nodded, but this one wasn't awkward. Jaklyn was vividly aware of Piotr sitting close to her, his arm on the couch behind her, and of the hot blush in her cheeks. The thought of her and Piotr together was still forefront in her mind, even though she was curious about Silence's mood and what had happened in New York, and even though the thought didn't repulse her, something was holding Jaklyn back from taking that step right away. A little while ago, Jaklyn would have given anything to be able to be Piotr's girlfriend. Now, when her and Kitty were somewhat friends again, when she had said she thought Jaklyn and Piotr should be together… There was something keeping her wary. She was definitely attracted to Piotr, there was no question about that, and, obviously, he was attracted to her, but…

"What are you thinking about, Jaklyn?" he asked suddenly.

She sighed again and subconsciously leaned into him, closing her eye. "What do you think I'm thinking about, Piotr?" Her voice came out a little sharper than she meant it to, but she pressed herself closer to Piotr, where she wanted to be, and knew he wouldn't be offended by the snap.

"Well," he said, his one arm wrapping around her middle. "I know what I want you to be thinking about…" The big Russian was silent for a moment, and then he laid his cheek on the top of Jaklyn's head and said, "I want to give it a try," he whispered. "I _do _care about you, and… well, Kitty would be happy to see us give it a try anyways." Piotr wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her closer; in her human form she didn't have nearly enough strength to resist.

Jaklyn sighed against his neck and bit her lip. She wanted so much to say yes, but… Instead, she asked, "Can you give me a while to answer?" She held her breath, slightly afraid of what he might say.

Piotr nodded, a small smile on his lips.

And she sighed with relief. "Thank you." Her eye found the door concealing her friend. "I'm going to go in and talk to Silence. I want to make sure she's OK." Jaklyn, with the help of Piotr, made it to her feet and then to the door. She knocked and without waiting for an answer, proceeded inside, aware of the Russian eyes on her back. "Silence? Si, I want to talk to you."

"Go away."

"No."

Jaklyn made her way to the bed where her red-haired friend was sitting and plunked herself down on the edge, placing a hand on Silence's calf. "Si, everyone's been worried about you – we thought we'd lost you. For real. Like, the Professor isn't here, so we couldn't check Cerebro to see if you were alive. Do you have any idea how scary it is to have one of your friends just disappear? I could hear Mina when she was in her fox form – I guess it was some sort of canine communication thing – but she was freaking out because one minute you were behind her and the next, you weren't-"

"Shut up Jak, you're babbling."

She smiled. Silence was still herself. "OK, fine. I'll shut up. Now, are you going to tell me what the bloody hell happened to you, or am I going to have to find someway to force it out of you?"

Silence rolled onto her back and shifted into a half-sitting position. "I guess I'll tell you. I wouldn't want you to do anything stupid." A smile twitched across her mouth for a brief second. "When I ran away, I met… a mutant in Central Park. He… He can fly and he was out flying the night the mansion was attacked, and he just happened to see me fall out the window… He caught me and took me back to New York where I was bandaged and taken care of and everything." Silence's fiery eyes flicked down to the bed where she was drawing abstract patterns on the sheets with one nail. "He was coming up to visit me I think…" When she looked back at her friend, Jaklyn was taken back a bit by the sadness. "I… I didn't want him to go home, I wanted him to stay here… He made me feel… Oh, Jaki, I've never felt like this about anyone before."

Jaklyn grabbed Silence in a tight embrace. Both girls winced as their injuries protested. "Si… I'm sure you'll see him again."

"Yeah… Well, I hope so." Silence wiped at her eyes. "So, what's going on with you and Pete? You guys seem close…" Her eyebrow rose suggestively.

Jaklyn blushed. "Kitty broke up with him because he cared about me too much. Piotr wants us to try dating, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea anymore." The confused look Silence gave her almost made Jaklyn laugh. "I know I would have excited beyond all reason before, but now, I don't know… There's something keeping me from jumping right in. Does that sound ridiculous?"

"A little. It's kinda obvious that you're head over heels in love with him, Jaki."

Jaklyn could only nod. After a few moments of quiet, she got to feet, telling Silence to rest a while – she would be awoken when it was time to move back up to the mansion. Piotr was leaning on the wall outside the door when Jaklyn moved back into the main room and he helped her back over to the couch without saying a word. He had zipped a sweater over his naked chest, but the extra fabric didn't do much to hide his well-defined muscles, and Jaklyn was having trouble remembering what she had planned on saying to him. Piotr sat down and gently pulled her down beside him. Jaklyn didn't even ask how he had known she wanted to sit down.

"What did she say?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Rather subconsciously, Jaklyn curled up closer to him. "She met someone when she ran away and he saved her. He's a mutant and he can fly. She misses him and she's got a crush on him. That was about it." She closed her eyes, shifting so she was more lying down than sitting up. Suddenly, she felt very, very tired. All the excitement and her injuries and her emotions: everything. It was all just catching up with her now. "Can I sleep?"

"Of course," Piotr whispered in her ear. "I'll wake you up in a few hours."

"I just want…" She yawned. "To go back to the mansion…"

Piotr rubbed her arm gently. "I know. Me too."

* * *

She had always been beautiful, but her recent mutations had only made her more appealing. There were the obvious and intriguing changes of the fangs and the claws, but what was really attracting Piotr were the more subtle changes. Her animalistic mutation, faster metabolism and increased exercise in the Danger Room had shaped her body into something lithe and dangerous and given her a feral energy. It was that energy which made people afraid of her, and even though Piotr couldn't deny how scary she was – the fuse to her temper had shortened, and she definitely wasn't afraid of her powers anymore. She was learning how to control them, how to use them, and that knowledge was making her significantly more outgoing.

But right then, while she lay curled up tight against him, breathing evenly and her one hand clinging with a white knuckled grip to his forearm, he couldn't be afraid of her, or be pushed away by her temper. He couldn't see how anyone could be afraid of her. She looked so serene, so wonderfully tranquil that he regretted having to wake her up, but it was time to go up to the mansion.

Gently, Piotr shook Jaklyn. She murmured something and curled up closer to him. Smiling slightly to himself, he picked her up in his strong arms and held her close. Some of the younger kids came over when they noticed their appointed leader rising.

"Is it time to go back to the mansion, Pete?"

He nodded. "Gather everyone in this room." He waited patiently, the weight of Jaklyn in his arms didn't strain at all as he stood still, the children slowly beginning to gather around him. When the kids were assembled in front of him, he said, "I'm going to go up first, just to make sure it's safe and then I'll come back down to get all of you, all right?" The kids nodded eagerly and as their voices rose in excitement, Jaklyn started to stir in his arms. He smiled at her. "Are you well enough to come with me?" he asked. "I'm going to check out the mansion; make sure it's safe."

"Sure I'm all right to go. I don't think any of the men who attacked us would stick around this long anyways." She untangled herself from Piotr's arms and stood in front of him, her back to the kids. "Do we have any communication equipment or something to keep in touch?" she asked. "Just in case?"

Kitty appeared holding two ear pieces and handed one to each of her friends. "Be careful," was all she said. "I'll tell Silence what's going on."

Jaklyn and Piotr nodded and headed for the door. She went first, going up the stairs slowly at first but quickening her pace when she realized her ankle no longer hurt to put pressure on. Outside, there was a thick overcast of purple-ish clouds and all of the vegetation had sort of a blue tinge to it. Piotr walked a few steps in front of Jaklyn as they headed around the back of the mansion, planning to go in the patio doors, and he looked over his shoulder often until Jaklyn convinced him she could take care of herself.

Once passed the piles of broken glass littering the back lawns, they made it into the house to find much more of the same thing. Splintered wood, broken glass and porcelain, busted doors and walls covered the floor, along with pools of blood and brain matter and bodies, broken and whole. There was a thick smell of burnt clothing, flesh and hair hanging over everything and large singe marks blackened the walls. Most of the mansion was untouched by the violence, and the carnage was contained in the back half of the house, where the bedrooms were upstairs and the kitchen and living room were on the ground floor. There was one path cutting through everything else, and it was littered with more bodies, more blood and more gore than the other areas of the mansion.

Piotr watched Jaklyn walk along that path, knowing in his gut that she had caused it all. In one section of the hallway, they found shreds of black silk: the remnants of her nightgown, and embedded in the wall in another section they found two kitchen knives sheathed in a black coat of dried blood: her weapons.

"Did I… This is…" She turned to look at him, and the face which had only a short while ago been one of beauty and calm was contorted in a mask of self-loathing and fear. "I did this… Didn't I?"

"Jaklyn… I…" But he didn't get to say any thing more. Jaklyn's eye filled with tears and he appeared at her side, taking her in his arms. "It's all right, Jaki," he whispered, using the nickname her friends had given her, hoping it would offer some amount of comfort. "You were protecting the mansion and all of us. No one is going to be mad at you. You helped us escape. It's all right. Sh…"

"But I killed all those men… They all have families waiting at home… What if they have kids…?"

It hurt to listen to her words, because he knew they were true. She had seemed so composed in the safe house and Piotr regretted bringing her up to the mansion before it was cleaned, but it was too late now. "I'm sorry I brought you up here Jaki. I didn't think… I didn't mean for you to see any of this," he whispered, rubbing her back. He winced slightly when her only answer was a ragged sob and he held her closer. "I'll take you up to your room." _That was a stupid move, Piotr, _he told himself angrily as he once again pulled Jaklyn into his arms and started towards the stairs.

_"Pete, what's going on up there? Is Jaklyn OK? She sounded kind of hysterical," _Kitty's voice crackled over the earpiece.

"We found some bodies."

_"Ah. Silence mentioned something about the wreckage Jaklyn had left behind her. Is it safe to come back up there?" _she asked. _"The kids are getting restless. So is Silence, actually." _

"Yeah, it is safe. It might be a good idea to bring the kids in the front door and bring them to the upstairs living rooms. You should be able to avoid most of the carnage that way." Piotr looked down at Jaklyn, sobbing quietly in his arms and sighed.

_"All right. We'll be up there shortly." _

He didn't say anything else as he finished the climb to Jaklyn's tower level room. Inside, he laid Jaklyn on her bed and squatted on the floor beside her, so their faces were even. Piotr removed the earpiece and tucked it in the pocket of his sweater. "Do you have any more vodka up here?" he asked somberly. The last thing he wanted was for her to be depressed and along in a room where more of the harmful liquid. He nodded once when Jaklyn pointed under the bed and bent down so he could reach underneath. His hand closed around a thick sweater, but he could feel the shape of the bottles wrapped inside. "I'm going to go downstairs and wait for the others." Piotr tucked the sweater under one arm and proceeded towards the door.

"Piotr?"

He turned around and Jaklyn was _right _there.

"Don't leave… Please?"

The pain and desperation in her voice was difficult to ignore. "I won't." He set the vodka on the floor and walked with her back to the bed where he sat with his back against the wall and Jaklyn curled up in front of him. He held her close as she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered.


	17. Chapter Seventeen : Alkali Lake

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Seventeen / _Alkali Lake _

* * *

Mina walked the length of the X-Jet again. She had been pacing up and down the middle aisle for some time now; she had started right after Jean, Wolverine and the others had headed into the underground complex. Sitting in the jet, away from all the action, was driving her nuts, and watching John, who she was still steaming mad at, also go insane from sitting around, wasn't helping. Bobby and Rogue were sitting on the bench, off to one side, watching their companions pace and shift uncontrollably. The jet's interior gave off a slight echo of John's lighting clicking on and off in his hand.

"Do you think every thing's going well?" Mina heard Rogue ask Bobby.

_What do you think? _Mina snapped in her head. She finally plunked herself down in a cross-legged position on the floor and leaned back on her hands. _We've had to team up with Magneto and his blue-skinned whore. Things are going to be tense. Things probably aren't going to go according to plan. __**Especially **__because Wolverine is down there with them and he's got some sort of history with this William Stryker guy. _Mina sighed and lay back, letting the chilly metal of the floor penetrate the fabric of the clothing she'd received at Bobby's house. She wasn't fond of Rogue to begin with and staying in here cooped up with her was making her very irritable.

"They'll be fine," Bobby answered, his voice sounding flat and automatic.

Mina cast a quick glance at John, who had shoved himself in the corner farthest from Rogue and Bobby. He was staring intently at the flame of his lighter as he continued to click it on and off, and there was a thoughtful expression in his eyes; his mouth was bunched in concentration. John brought the flame off his lighter and into the palm of his hand and made it double in size and then shrink and grow again, a look of concentration on his face. Mina watched the flame for a while, knowing how much he wished that, like his sister, he could _create _the fire and not just _manipulate _it. The fireball started to spin slowly and as its speed increased, small plumes of fire started shooting off in every direction, fizzling out before they could do any real damage to the interior of the very expensive jet.

"John, stop it," Rogue suddenly snapped.

_Oh, big mistake, _Mina thought. John usually had a minor freak out whenever anyone told him what to do.

"Fine," John mumbled.

His eyes met Mina's momentarily, and in that brief second, Mina saw a great amount of pain, and… was that regret? Did he regret hitting her? _Maybe, _Mina told herself. _But it's not like he's going to apologize out loud or anything. _Mina sighed and rolled onto her side on the cold floor, putting her back between her and her rather ex-boyfriend. She forced her thoughts into a different place. _I hope everyone comes back in one piece… _She put everyone's faces through her mind in a sort of slideshow. Jean, The Professor, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Scott… And then she thought about Silence who had disappeared from behind her when they had been escaping the mansion, and Jaklyn, who had been in that frightening rage the last time Mina had seen her, and Peter, who'd been shoved into the position of leading the children at the mansion, Kitty, distraught and worried about her relationship, and all the other kids at the mansion… Mina realized with a pang that she didn't know what had happened to anyone, what state the mansion was in… Was her home still standing? Was everyone still in one piece? Was everyone still _alive_? Mina bit her lip and curled into a ball, trying to keep herself from falling apart with the stress.

"Mina, are you OK?" Bobby asked. He had sat on the floor beside her. "You're crying…"

"I'm worried," she managed between clenched teeth.

"About?"

"Everything…"

Bobby sighed and Mina wondered where Rogue had gone and if John was watching. "You can't worry about _everything _all at once, Mina; you'll drive yourself crazy." He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a brotherly squeeze.

"Aren't you worried?" Mina finally wiped the tears from her face and shoved herself into a sitting position. "I mean, there's so much we don't know… Like, we can't see what's going on in the Industrial Complex and we can't see or know what's going on back at the mansion, and Silence disappeared and, and, ugh!" She expelled a noise of frustration and hung her head in her hands. "I don't know how you and John and Rogue can stay so calm…"

"Mina, you're only not calm because you're trying to deal with everything at once."

"Well what else am I going to do? It's not like I can help in any way."

"Think about the people you're worrying about, for one thing. Jean and Logan and the others will be fine. They're strong, and they've got extra help down there with Magneto and Mystique and that blue guy. Nightcrawler or whatever. The kids at the mansion are with Jaklyn and Pete and Kitty, and do you honestly think Peter would let _anything _happen to any of the kids? And Silence is… well, even if no one knows where she is, I'm sure she's alive, because she's determined and resourceful and she could kick anyone's ass worse than John." Bobby stopped here to smile. "I bet she'd even give Logan a run for his money, and let me tell you, no one is going to be able to take advantage of her or anything. No one will be able to even get _close _if she doesn't want them to."

Mina rose an eyebrow and stifled a bit of a laugh. "You sound like you're talking from personal experience, Bobby."

"I am."

"Oh, do explain." Mina knew Bobby was doing this to distract her, and it was working. Mina also knew that Bobby was right. All of the mutants she was worrying about were more than capable of taking care of themselves. There really was no need to worry, but that didn't mean she was going to stop. She cared about her friends and wasn't about to let them get off without anyone having a minor freak out over them.

"Well, Silence and John came to the mansion shortly after I did. And, well, you know what Silence looks like. I was…" He cast a glance over his shoulder and then around the jet: Rogue was lounging in one of the pilot's chairs, studying the buttons and knobs and screens intently. "I had a crush on Silence for a while," he admitted. "But she… She was _fiery _in her refusal." When Mina looked at him confused, Bobby snickered. It was a strange sound coming from Bobby, who hadn't laughed much in a long while. "Let's just say it's a good thing I can control ice. I think she was trying to burn my arm off."

Mina doubled over in laughter, picturing the exchange in her head.

"What the hell are you laughing about?" Rogue hissed from the front of the jet. "I don't think this is a very _funny_ situation."

"Relax Rogue." Bobby's voice had taken on a soothing quality. "I was just trying to stop Mina from worrying so much. To cheer her up, you know. We don't need anyone freaking out."

Mina cast a sideways look at John as she calmed herself down.

* * *

Logan had left the others. He couldn't pass up this chance to find out more about his past, and he didn't need anyone tagging along behind him. Something about this place made him feel more like a loner than he ever had before, and he suspected it was because this was where he was _made_. William Stryker, that man who had attacked the mansion, had something to do with his past, and Wolverine was sure it was he who had stolen his life, who had turned his skeleton into metal and who had made him the… _monster _he was now. There was no other way to describe himself, even though he had a decent control of her temper, Logan knew what he was.

Wandering the greenish hallways of the underground complex felt strangely familiar to him. He knew he was on the right track. There were patterns in the rough stone of the walls he remembered staring at: these walls had been the last thing he'd seen as a… normal mutant. That was a weird way to describe it, but it was true. Before his skeleton had been covered in Adamantium, he had had only healing powers, and it was because of those powers he had been able to survive the surgery. Logan also suspected his healing powers have given him a longer lifespan than anyone else. He didn't have any memories from his childhood, and he didn't remember anything before the metal bones clearly; only snippets of what must have been a former life would drift in and out of his mind, and he never remembered anything for very long.

He let the tips of his fingers drag along the stone walls as he walked, using his nose to smell changes in the air, and his ears to hear if anyone approached him. Luckily, no one had stumbled upon him yet, and he hoped no one would. Oddly enough, he didn't feel like shedding blood today.

A sudden change in the way the air smelled and a fleeting memory made him turn a corner he hadn't planned to. There was a metallic undertone to the air, and it wasn't like any metal he normally smelt, and even though he couldn't smell the metal on his bones, he had a feeling the metal scent he was followed was Adamantium. Logan walked down a narrower hallway for a few minutes until he stepped into a very open, round chamber. In the middle of the room sat a large tank of water with a metal bed suspended over top. A smaller tank of bubbling silver liquid sat to one side and three or so large tubes coiled away from it, each ending in some sort of injecting tools. Other equipment, all with a medical look to it, sat around the room, closer to the outside walls, and on the wall directly behind the tank of water was an X-Ray viewer; the yellowish light wall was broken up by many black squares sporting bluish-white images of bones. Logan knew he had found his "birth" place.

In a state of wonder, Logan approached the X-Ray wall.

There were two distinct sets of X-Rays, with a wide space of light separating them. The first one he looked at were the bones of a woman or a very small and slight man, but Logan was willing to bet they belonged to a woman. It looked as if her entire skeleton was also covered in Adamantium, but instead of three claws coming out from between her knuckles like Logan's, she had five claws and they came out beneath her nails, form her fingertips. If Logan hadn't experienced the pain he felt every time his claws came out, he would have thought having them come out his fingertips would be _very _uncomfortable.

The second set of X-Rays was older, and at first glance, Logan thought they were of himself: there were three claws coming out of the hand in one X-Ray. He wasn't going to look any closer, but the X-Ray of a foot caught his attention. At the heel, there was a solid white spot, which, he guessed, was a solid chunk of Adamantium, and as far as he knew, his heels were both fleshly. So, he examined the X-Ray's closer, and came to a startling deduction. These bones also belonged to a woman. A woman who would be able to through one hell of a roundhouse kick with a solid Adamantium heel. Logan felt himself smirk at the thought of that as he bent closer to one of the X-Rays. There were a few words in the corner: _Andell Brown, Subject No. 113. _

_Andell Brown… _Logan committed the name to memory. _Maybe I can find her one day. She'll probably be able to tell me more than the Professor or anyone else. _He turned his back to the X-Rays and started walking towards the door in the room that he hadn't come in. _Maybe I can get the Professor to find her for me… _He started formulating a plan to that effect, when something occurred to him that should have the moment he realized the other X-Rays had belonged to another woman.

There were two women out there, who were like him. Two women who knew the pain he went through every day: the pain of having claws come out of your skin and the pain of not remembering who you were.

Logan decided not to leave this room just yet. Maybe if he stayed here, he could remember something which would unlock his forgotten past. Maybe there was a clue to who he had been. He started walking away from the X-Ray wall, heading towards the nearest pillar, planning to get a different vantage point. The stone pillar was wide, but instead of surveying the room from its side, Logan turned and began to study the stone itself; at the precise height of his hand, three, long, parallel gashes had cleaved through the pillar. Memories of running from this place flashed across his mind. He had fought to escape.

On the next pillar, a similar set of claw marks marred the stone. However, the spaces between the three claws were shorter, and the stone around the marks was black like it had been singed. The woman, Andell, had made those marks. Her marks were also on a broken piece of machinery and two more pillars.

_She has some fight in her, _Logan mused. _I bet she left some bodies in her wake when she escaped. _

"I see you've discovered your companions," a voice rumbled from behind him. It was Stryker. "I used to think you were one of a kind, Wolverine. I was wrong." The stocky man stopped at the top of the small flight of stairs, an Asian woman a step behind him. "113 escaped only a few weeks ago. From what I understand, she went looking for you." Logan's lip curled as Stryker gave a subtle single to the woman behind him. "Have fun," was all he said before he strode from the room.

Logan barely had time to register the woman's movements before she was on him.

* * *

The air in the jet seemed to be thinner, like there wasn't enough to support the four people inside. Mina was curled into an awkward position in one of the seats with her eyes closed and John was still stuffed in his corner, playing with his lighter and occasionally grumbling about something. Bobby was stretched out on one of the benches, his eyes also closed, and Rogue was wandering around the cases were Jean and Logan and Scott kept their cool leather outfits.

"When do you think we'll get our outfits?" she asked, breaking the rather uncomfortable silence.

Mina, all too eager to answer, posed the question, "What makes you think we're even going to get outfits? We're not technically X-Men yet."

"Do you really think we would spend all the time we do in training if we weren't going to be X-Men one day?" Rogue walked over to the bench and sat down near Bobby's feet, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think we're old enough to face whatever they do."

"That may be," Mina sighed, "but you know the Professor isn't going to let us really fight unless they're in desperate need for help. Besides, I don't really want one of those outfits. They all look alike. Boring." Mina actually _really _wanted one of those outfits, even if it did look like everyone else's. She wanted to belong to something big, something meaningful like the X-Men; she deeply believed in what they stood for and wanted to be a part of that. "And, before you say anything else, I realize that having all the outfits look alike promotes a sense of a team, but I don't care." Mina rolled her head, stretching out her neck.

"Whatever."

And the interior of the jet became silent once more.

Mina put her foot on the wall of the jet and used it to pivot her chair back and forth, back and forth, until she stopped it forcibly in a position where she could look at John. She sighed and let her chair snap back to its actual place after a moment. Why did she care how he was feeling so much? She could be steaming mad at him, but she wasn't. She shouldn't even be able to look at him, but she could. _God Mina, you're pathetic. He __**hit **__you for crying out loud. Shouldn't that mean more than whatever you're feeling? _No. No it shouldn't. Well, maybe it should, but what could she do? It's not like he wanted her help, and it wasn't as if she even knew what really was the problem. _Stupid John…_

Suddenly, Stupid John stood up and grabbed a coat from a shelf. "I'm sick of this kid-table shit," he muttered, heading right for the lowered stairway.

"John!" Mina untangled herself from her seat and followed him, forgetting to grab a coat for herself. "John! Wait!" She followed as he pushed passed Rogue and Bobby and out into the snow, her socks quickly becoming soaked through her slippers and the bottoms of the pants she had obtained from Bobby's house doing the same. But she didn't care. She lunged down the stairs after him and grabbed his wrist. "Where are you going?" she demanded.

"Away." John freed himself with a harsh yank on his arm and stalked in the direction of the Industrial Complex.

"John…"

He didn't respond, so Mina followed him across the snowy ground, wishing he would stop, that he would talk to her, that he would tell here where he was going, why he was going. When he reached a flat spot on the edge of the forest, he stopped and turned smoldering eyes on her.

"Go back to the jet, Mina."

"Where are you going?" A lump was starting to rise in her throat.

"I told you – away. I don't want to sit around anymore. I want to actually do something."

"I don't think that's such a good idea. You could get hurt, John."

He rolled his eyes. "I can take care of myself."

"John," Mina pleaded. "Don't go. Please stay?"

"No Mina. I can't do this anymore."

Uhm, ouch? "Can't do _what_?" she snapped.

He rose his arms up to either side, gesturing all around him. "This. The X-Men thing; the good guy thing. I can't sit around while everyone else has all the fun. I can't fight for something I don't believe in." John looked Mina in the eye, that strange emotion resembling regret present. "I can't be with someone who doesn't believe in what I do and who doesn't support what I believe in."

"What?" That ragged pain was welling in her chest. Mina bit her lip against it and forced a pleading look into her eyes. "What are you talking about John?"

He sighed. "Humans and mutants can't live together. They will never accept us."

"So what?" Mina's temper was _very _close to snapping. "You're going to join The Brotherhood? You're going to become one of Magneto's lackeys? That's it? No real goodbye?" A pain to match the one in her chest had started to rise in her head, but she ignored it. "Are we just over? Just like that?" The pain rose to a point where there was an actual drone in her head.

"I thought we _were _over…"

Mina opened her mouth to reply, but the pain in her head had escalated quickly and now all she could hear was the high-pitched drone. She screamed and collapsed to the ground, hands clamped over her ears, her teeth grinding in pain. John followed a moment later, first falling to his knees and then backwards, away from her. Mina could feel herself shifting through the forms of different animals, and suddenly the only thing she wanted, besides for the noise to stop, was to hold John's hand, to take what comfort that could offer. If she was going to die, might as well die holding the hand of the one she loved, right? Slowly and in agony, Mina started to claw her way toward John's side; she could see his fingers digging trenches in the ground and she reached out. Not quite. She struggled a little closer and reached out again. This time, her skin found his and she squeezed.

"John," she croaked.

"I'm so sorry Mina…" He squeezed her hand as tight as he could.

* * *

Back at the safe house, all the mutants were experiencing similar agony. Many of the kids were sprawled on the floor, dropped in the middle of play, writhing and screaming and clutching at their ears. Siryn's painful scream was wailing through the safe house, amplifying the ringing pain in the other mutants' heads. Kitty was curled into a ball on the bed beside where Silence was doing much the same thing. Jaklyn and Piotr were on the couch, clinging to each other, Jaklyn's face pressed into his chest, her claws digging into his upper arms, and Piotr was trying to cover his ears by pushing the side of his head into her shoulder. They were curled together tightly, Jaklyn whimpering softly.

"It hurts…"

All he could do was hold her tighter.

* * *

"It's over, Mina. It's stopped."

The noise was still ringing in her ears. She sat up, brushing the snow off her shoulder. John was sitting beside her in the snow, watching her, making sure she was all right. "Do you have any idea what that was?" she asked, shifting into a more comfortable position.

"No. Mina… I'm not going back to the jet with you. I'm not coming back to the mansion."

For a long moment she was silent. "I know John," she finally said, keeping her tear-filled eyes on the ground. She pressed her hand into the snow, savouring the cold. "I'll miss you." Her voice was just above a whisper.

John put his hand under her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. He held her gaze for a moment and then he leaned in and kissed her. Mina wrapped her arms around his neck as she returned the kiss, hoping that he wouldn't leave, even though she knew he would. When they parted, he helped her to her feet and then he whispered goodbye and headed in the opposite direction of the jet, and he didn't look back. Mina watched him go and then stood there a little long. She suddenly felt empty.

"Goodbye John…" she whispered to the space where he had been.

Slowly, she turned and followed her footprints back to the X-Jet where Bobby and Rogue were sitting, huddled together on the floor. Mina fell into one of the chairs and just stared ahead.

"Where's John?" Rogue asked.

"Gone."

* * *

**Author's Note… **This chapter is a little shorter than the others, sorry. We are approaching the end, people.


	18. Chapter Eighteen : Catching Up

I don't own anything to do with anything in the **X-Men **franchise. That sucks majorly, but that's all right. I'll live. I do own Jaklyn Porter, Silence Allerdyce and most of this plot, besides the bits that came from the movie. Mina belongs to my friend. This fic follows along with **X2 **and is rated for language, violence, drinking, blood, gore, and some bad relationship choices. No explicit sexual content yet. That comes in the sequel, kiddies. And I'm not listing pairings, because they're pretty obvious. Woo. Hope you enjoy this fic.

* * *

**Illusive Rhapsody  
**Chapter Eighteen / _Catching Up _

* * *

Jaklyn's throat was dry, and nothing was quenching her thirst. She knew what would, of course – vodka – but she was trying to ignore that thought. She didn't want to start drinking again. It made Piotr angry. And the Professor and Jean. It was probably make her friends mad too, if they found out, but, if her self-control prevailed, they wouldn't have to. She knew somewhere inside her, deep down inside her, she had the self-control to break her drinking problem. She was too young to let alcohol ruin her life. Jaklyn shut her eyes and tilted her head backwards until it was resting on the couch. She was sitting on the floor in the living room, with her back against the bottom of the couch; it was her turn to take a break from the cleaning.

Piotr and Kitty had organized the mutant kids into an effective cleaning team who swept through the hallways collecting the pieces of everything broken and righting what had been knocked over after Piotr removed the bodies to the back porch where he had piled them underneath a tarp. He was walking around covered in metal, using his enhanced strength to lift five or six bodies at the same time. Moving the bodies wasn't what he wanted to be doing – it was actually making him quite nauseous – but he wasn't going to let the kids anywhere near the bodies. That would scar them for life. Kitty was mostly keeping an eye on the hoard of children, making sure they didn't venture outside where the bodies were and they didn't injure themselves on broken glass or splintered wood or anything else dangerous as they cleaned up. Being able to walk through walls came in handy for watching a gaggle of children. In fact, all of the mutations the children possessed were coming in handy – no one could clean a room like a telekinetic, and there were no less than three in the mutant student body.

"How are you feeling Jaklyn?" Piotr asked. He was suddenly standing beside her, a towering difference in height.

She knew he was referring to the alcohol as well as everything she had destroyed. Facing it all wasn't very easy. "I'm… all right," she mumbled, taking his offered hand and pulling herself to her feet. His metal skin was cold, but she didn't mind. She lightly ran her fingers over the twisting organic pattern on his forearm. "Tired, but OK."

"That's good." He embraced her gently with one arm, afraid to squish her while in his metal state. "We're almost finished with the downstairs hallways."

Jaklyn forced herself to smile as she laced her fingers together and pushed her palms up to the sky. "Hopefully the Professor and everyone will be back soon." She started walking towards the stairs and Piotr followed her up, and they started in the direction of where the rest of the carnage lay. "Are you ready to gather the rest of the bodies?" She swallowed the dryness in her throat and tried not to remember that _she _had caused the stench of death leaking from the hallway in front of them; she swallowed the urge to throw up.

"Are you?"

She grimaced in answer. After Piotr had turned around, Jaklyn swiftly undressed and veered into her wolf form. Piotr followed the gigantic wolf down the hallway, neither making much noise as they walked. At the beginning of the day, they had decided that Jaklyn would take the bodies down to balcony, one by one, out a broken window, hoping that none of the kids will see if they do it that way. Piotr tossed the first one towards her and she caught the back of his uniform in her mouth before leaping elegantly out of the broken window and down to the balcony. The body crunched unceremoniously as she landed on the stone. A few moments later, she ran back up the stairs and grabbed the next body. They repeated that process until all the bodies were under the tarp and away from prying eyes. Piotr started to pick up the rubble strewn across the hardwood and Jaklyn changed back, pulled on her clothes and joined him; her breaths sounded slightly laboured from all the running and jumping back and forth.

"I still can't believe I did all this…" she muttered as she wrestled a chunk of wood from the wall.

"You still don't remember anything?" Piotr watched her out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her to answer. She stiffened momentarily, but didn't say anything. "Jaki… It's OK."

"Oh, I know that." She straightened, dropping the pile of wood she had been holding. Jaklyn huffed and planted her fists on her hips. "Everyone has told me that what I did was OK because I was protecting the mansion and the students and all that, but nobody has told me how to _deal _with the fact that I killed all those men." She sighed again, folding her arms under her breasts. "It just…" Her cobalt eye filled with sadness and a faint twitching moved her scars. "It makes me feel like an animal, Piotr…"

He tossed his pile of rubble into the middle of the floor where Silence would use a controlled fire and burn it later and stepped towards Jaklyn, the metal on his skin disappearing. Firmly but gently, Piotr pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "Jaki, you're _not _an animal."

She stayed there for a moment, her eye closed and her arms held close to her chest. Subconsciously, she pressed her face into the warmth of Piotr's chest. A faint whirring noise appeared in her ears and she pushed away. "The jet…" she whispered.

The rest of the mutants congregated by the jet hanger as the noise got louder and others besides those with super hearing noticed it. Jaklyn and Silence were standing in front of Piotr when Mina stepped off the jet. Behind her came a blue skinned man no one at the mansion had seen before – they were informed that his name was Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich circus, he was called the Incredible Nightcrawler and that he was a teleporter - and then the Professor, Scott, Storm, Logan, Bobby and Rogue. Jean and Pyro were not amongst the group; the looks on everyone's faces did not speak of good news. Jaklyn could feel the sadness, the depression and the anger and she grimaced. Everyone stiffened as the Professor approached, his telepathic voice, echoing in their heads: _John has left us for the Brotherhood and Jean has… Jean has passed on. _

Jaklyn and Silence, both incredibly sad about Jean's passing, forced that to the back of their minds as their eyes rested on Mina's face. Her auburn hair covered her eyes until she turned her light blue gaze upwards and smiled softly. The girls enveloped Mina in their arms and held her as the tears she'd choked back came forth and she collapsed against her friends. Mina wasn't one to cry, and obviously, she had been trying very hard not to cry.

"Mina…"

Jaklyn heard the catch in Silence's voice as she tried to consol Mina for something that was hurting her too and she held both her friends a little tighter. She knew what it was like to loose a family member and people you loved. A light, soothing touch in her mind brought her attention over the heads of her friends to where the Professor sat in his chair, watching with tearful eyes as his students, his children, his family grieved. Scott stood like a guard a few steps behind and too the right.

_Jaklyn, I need to talk to you. I need to know what happened here._

_I'm afraid I won't be the best for that, Professor. I don't remember much. My mind's a bloody mess right now… _Subconsciously, she squeezed Mina's shoulder. _I don't know how much help I'll be. _

_It's all right, Jaklyn. I'll have to talk to Silence and Mina and everyone who was here whenever whatever happened, happened. I just need all the pieces of the puzzle I can get. _

Jaklyn stood there for a moment longer before she sighed and untangled herself and walked over to the Professor. "You'll have to read my mind, because I can't tell you anything," she informed him. "It won't hurt, will it?"

The Professor nodded. "It'll be a little uncomfortable, but that's all."

Jaklyn followed the Professor out into the subbasement hallway where she knelt in front of him and let him take her head in his hands. She closed her eyes, clenched her teeth. Nothing happened for a moment. Then, suddenly, an invisible snake started winding through her mind and it was _extremely _uncomfortable. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, but there was no pain, just a squirming that she couldn't shut out, that she couldn't rid herself of. It was like a restlessness that couldn't be shook. She balled her hands into fists and then gasped as images started flying through her mind at a speed like a tape on fast forward. Flying blood, animalistic sounds, glinting knives, moonlight flashing through the windows as she ran down the hallway… Images of her friends' terrified faces and one of Logan, looking more surprised than anything… And then, shining metal as she stumbled down the hallway towards Colossus…

And then… Then it was over.

"The mansion was attacked…" It wasn't a question, more of a realization. The Professor smiled his fatherly smile at Jaklyn and squeezed her shoulder. "Thank you Jaklyn. And I commend you, Piotr, Kitty and Silence on your organization at getting the mansion cleaned up and keeping the children in check."

"Thanks, Professor. Uh, can I go back to Mina now? I think she needs me and Silence…" She looked around the Professor at her friends. Her gaze flickered to Piotr and she smiled a bit, letting him know she was OK.

"Yes, yes, of course."

Jaklyn returned to Mina and Silence as the mutants started heading back upstairs to finish cleaning. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm… I'm fine…" Mina pushed herself away from Silence and forced a smile at Jaklyn. "We should head back upstairs and help clean up the mansion…" She stepped into the hallway and headed mindlessly for the elevator. "Cleaning would be good… Keep my mind occupied…" Mina kept mumbling as she climbed into the car and sagged against the wall, Silence and Jaklyn watching her from down the hallway.

"She is _not _OK."

Jaklyn looked sideways at Silence. "Are _you_?"

"I'm fine. Pissed off beyond all reason, but fine." Silence planted her hands on her hips and huffed, blowing some of her hair out of her face. "I can't believe that bastard… If I ever see him again… I'll… I'll break every bone in his Goddamned body and then burn him from the inside out." She groaned in frustration and the sighed heavily. "Whatever. That's not the point. Where are those piles of broken things you want me to burn? I need some destruction to make me feel better."

"What I think you need is whoever you left in New York."

Silence cuffed Jaklyn on the back of the head and tried to look angry as she stormed to the elevator. She was terrible at hiding her smile. "You just shut your damn mouth. Are you coming or not?"

"I'll follow you up."

The doors slid shut and Jaklyn stepped back into the hanger where Logan was still standing. She knew she should be going upstairs to help clean and she knew she needed to talk to Piotr about _them _as a _couple_, but _that_ was something she was going to put off for as long as she could. The idea made her rather uncomfortable. But right then, from across the distance, Jaklyn could sense Logan's pain – something to do with her growing animalistic intuition – and she couldn't ignore it; she had sensed Scott's sadness, but it wasn't as pronounced – probably because Jaklyn and Logan had some sort of bizarre animal connection – and since Scott and Jean had been _together, _Jaklyn wasn't comfortable approaching Scott. To be honest, Scott kinda of intimidated Jaklyn, which was weird because Logan didn't at all. She was perfectly comfortable around Logan. Well, besides the raging blood and completely feral attraction, of course.

"Are you OK?" she asked, folding her arms loosely, ignoring the increased temperature throughout her body. Her sessions in the Danger Room had really helped her control. Now she only _thought_ about going all psycho.

He just looked at her, one eyebrow slightly raised. "And you care Half-Pint?"

"I was just wondering. Your…" She waved her hands in a wide gesture at nothing in particular. "_Emotions_. They're _heavy_. _Oppressive. _And I care because I can feel them. Something about this whole _thing _we have. I'm just wondering if you're OK, because I know how much you're hurting."

"Well… Don't worry about me Half-Pint. I heal quickly, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

Jaklyn, Piotr and Silence were left to watch the children while the Professor and the others went to visit the President of the United States for some reason. Silence was having a great time taking her anger out on the piles of rubbish scattered on the stones around the pool while Piotr and Jaklyn were managing the children. Piotr had barbequed hamburgers for everyone and the kids were sitting in the living room, eating and watching television and completely oblivious to what was going on outside. Well, oblivious as they could be with bright flashes of flames leaping into the dark afternoon sky and the faint sound of maniacal laughter drifting through the air.

"How are you feeling Jaki?" Piotr asked, sitting down on the widow seat beside her. He took a bite of his third hamburger and watched her as she looked out the window, the scarred side of her face pressed up against the cool glass. When she didn't answer, he set his plate behind him and shifted closer to her. "Can I ask you something?" She nodded. _She is not making this easy. Not at all. _"Well… Do you have an answer for me Jaklyn?" It may not have been the most appropriate moment, but Piotr wanted to know what she was thinking. He wanted the answer to be _yes_.

For a long while, she didn't answer. She turned her eye out the window and just stared at the trees. "Piotr," she said finally, "I really, really like you. And I don't know if it's the you saving my life thing or what it is, but I _do _like you. But… there's just something… Some _bloody _thing that's telling me not to do this. And that could just be the you were dating Kitty thing and the she dumped you and told you to go out with me thing, I don't know, but…" She turned and looked at him. "I'm a little scared and a lot nervous, Piotr. I've never had a real relationship before. I've never felt like this about anyone before. For most of my life, I was just the _freak_." Jaklyn sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't know if I'm ready so soon after being thrust into this new life."

He hugged her. That was all he could think to do. What do you say to someone who spent their whole life sheltered from normality? What _could _you say? Nothing really. So, he just held her, stroked her hair. "Jaki, I'm going to ask you one more thing, and I want you to answer truthfully."

"Uh… OK."

"Are you actually all right? You've been in and out of fits about what… what happened. Are you going to be OK? You're not suffering any mental damage or anything?"

Jaklyn raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, trying to judge if he was playing around or not. He let a small smile pull at the corner of his mouth and she laughed. She smacked his shoulder and laughed, falling against him, hugging him again. For the first time in two days, she actually smiled, and she pressed her scarred cheek into the soft fabric of the t-shirt he was wearing. "I'm fine, Piotr… I mean, it's going to take some time for me to fully get over it, but… I think there might be something in my mutation that helps me deal with… with death." She put her hands on his chest and pushed back so she could look at him in the eye again. "I'm not under any serious mental stress, really."

Piotr brushed some stray strands of hair out of her face and cupped her unscarred cheek in his hand. "I believe you, Jaki," he whispered. And then, wrapped up in the moment, he kissed her, gently, on the lips.

Jaklyn's body jolted and she pulled away, blushing furiously and breathing quickly.

"I'm sorry," he breathed. _That was stupid. _

"No, no… Don't be sorry…" Jaklyn gave him a small smile and shifted a bit closer to him. "I… You just caught me… off guard." She smiled again and hugged him again, pressing her face into his neck. "I really didn't mind. That was my first _real_ kiss, and… Well, this doesn't change what I said a minute ago, I'm still scared as hell and nothing's official yet, but that… No, don't be sorry… I really didn't mind." When she pushed back to look him in the eye again, she was smiling wildly and her eye was alight with happiness; it impressed Piotr that amidst all the sadness and death, he and Jaklyn could find this moment.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really what?" Silence was suddenly there, standing in her usual slightly slouched posture with hands planted on her hips, except unlike normal, there was an angry twist to her lips; the only sign that she was angry with her brother for leaving. Silence wasn't usually one to show her emotions outright, so that little twist in her mouth was all the inhabitants of the mansion were going to get as a warning to stay as far away as possible.

"Really nothing."

"Whatever." Silence wedged herself in between Piotr and Jaklyn and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Does anyone know when Mina and the others are coming back? I kinda have to talk to Mina." She looked at Jaklyn. "And you. I have to tell you guys about the _mutant_ I met in New York. It's not really something that can wait. And, fine, I can wait until after we have our funeral-type thing for Jean, but I _have _to tell someone!" She huffed and fell backwards against the window.

"Uh, Si, calm down?"

* * *

They did indeed have a funeral-type thing for Jean. Since they had no body, and it had started to rain outside, the mutants of the mansion gathered in the downstairs living room, the largest room in the mansion, around a large picture of Jean. Scott was standing to the side of the Professor and he was actually crying, something not many of the mansion's inhabitants had ever seen, and Logan was standing off in a corner, arms crossed over his chest, and shadows covering his face. His expression was obviously sad, and the oppressive emotions were still there; Jaklyn smiled sadly at him when she entered the room, but he didn't respond at all. The Professor was seated in front of the large glass doors leading into the backyard, saying kind, loving words about Jean in a smooth but powerful voice without shedding a tear, although it was obvious how sad he was. Some of the younger students were huddled together on the carpet in front of the picture, sobbing as quietly as they could. Jean had been like a mother to them, and now, she was gone. Jaklyn, Silence and Mina were standing behind the couch where Piotr was sitting with Fly, the young blond-haired boy who looked up to Piotr like a brother. The rest of the students were scattered around the living room, everyone's attention completely on the Professor.

"Can you believe she's gone?" Mina asked, her voice subdued. She shifted and leaned on the couch. "I mean… Jean was like, a part of this place. She was important… She was… So important. What are we going to do without her?" A couple tears ran down her cheeks, but she didn't sob.

Jaklyn and Silence shrugged. Silence had been at the mansion the longest of the three girls and she had grown rather close to Jean, who had been like a mother or older sister and had helped Silence learn how to control her powers. Before her one on one sessions with Jean, Silence had had problems with things and people around her spontaneously catching on fire when she got angry or frustrated, which had happened a lot; it still happened a lot, but now, she could control it, and it was all thanks to Jean. Jean understood what it was to be afraid of your powers and she had helped Silence get over that. And two years after Silence came to the mansion, Jean taught Mina control and helped her overcome the mental block she had subconsciously put in place after killing her family. She helped Mina expand her mutation. Most recently, she had helped Jaklyn with her own mental block and her control over her mutation and she had done it countless times before. The fact was, Jean, with her medical talents, her telepathic abilities and her warming personality, had been a very, very important part of Xavier's Institute and she would be sorely missed.

When the Professor had finished speaking, he opened the floor to anyone who wanted to say a few things about Jean. Jaklyn, after a minute of deliberation, stepped around the couch and went to stand beside the Professor. She stood completely still for a moment and then sighed. "I haven't been here that long," she began. "But I know how important Jean was and is to all of you." A lump rose in Jaklyn's throat, but she swallowed hard, pushing it back. Her voice warbled a bit as she continued: "Jean was one of the first people I met, and from that first moment, I saw what a kind and loving person she was. Like many of you, she helped me get over the fear I had of my powers, and she was a friend as well as a teacher and I… I looked up to her." Jaklyn felt a tear roll down her good cheek. "I wasn't there at Alkali Lake, but I know she thought what she did was best for everyone, even if it meant giving up her own life." Her voice cracked and she sobbed once, more tears falling. "I didn't know her as well as some of you, but I will miss her terribly."

"Thank you Jaklyn," the Professor whispered from beside her. He placed a hand on her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze before turning his attention back to the population of his school. "Please everyone, get some rest."

As the living room began to empty, Jaklyn drifted back to her friends. Kitty had joined the small group and she gave Jaklyn a hug, standing on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around the taller girl's neck. Silence and Mina joined in and the four girls laughed in spite of themselves, their cheeks glistening with tears and their eyes sad. When they untangled themselves from each other, Silence and Mina fell onto a nearby couch and Silence wrapped one arm around her friend's shoulders, holding her close. Kitty sat on the arm of the couch. Jaklyn walked over to Piotr and wrapped her arms around his chest, which was the easiest part of him to reach when they were both standing.

"I think Silence wants to talk. I'll see you later?" When Piotr nodded, Jaklyn smiled and wiped the remaining tears from her cheek. She joined Silence, Mina and Kitty on the couch. "So, what's the first topic?"

Mina turned to Silence. "What the hell happened to you when the mansion was attacked?"

"You're not going to believe this – I was tackled out a window after I was knocked unconscious from a grenade."

"How the hell did you survive?"

"She's got a secret mutant-lover in New York," Jaklyn jibed, a smirk on her face.

"Why are _you _so happy?" Silence snapped.

"It's not my turn. It's your turn. Tell us about your secret mutant-lover."

A slight, playful growl issued from Mina's throat. "You'd better."

"Yeah," Kitty said, speaking for the first time. "What does he have to do with you surviving from a second story fall?"

"His name is Warren. And he has wings. He caught me when I fell. That's all I'm going to tell you. You'll find out more when he comes to the mansion. Because he's going to come visit me at some point and he might even end up living here." Silence smiled smugly and sat back in the corner of the couch. "Now it's your turn Jaki – why the hell are you so happy?"

Jaklyn grinned, which was a rather savage gesture, as, unlike her closed-lip smile which was very pleasant, her teeth-baring grin showed off her fangs and made her resemble a wolf looking at its next meal. But none of the other girls balked. Before she spoke, Jaklyn cast a glance at Kitty, who nodded. She obviously knew it was going to have something to do with Piotr, and she was urging Jaklyn on. Briefly Jaklyn wondered how much pain it caused Kitty to know that her ex-boyfriend, who she obviously still have feelings for, and her friend were courting each other. "Piotr kissed me," she said. As Silence as Mina reacted with little squeals of jubilation, and Kitty smiled, Jaklyn realized how much she enjoyed the girl talk and how it had the ability to lighten even the heaviest moments; Pyro's abandonment of the X-Men and Jean's death definitely constituted heavy moments.

"So are you two official?" Mina asked. She had settled back in the couch, her legs folded beneath her.

"No… I'm kinda scared."

Silence guffawed and reached across Mina to cuff Jaklyn's head. "Stupid girl. What is keeping you from making it official? You're so in love with him, it's sickening, and he is so _obviously _in love with you, it's painful."

Jaklyn shrugged, rubbing her head and leaning farther into the corner where Silence couldn't reach her. "I don't bloody now. I'm just scared. I lived in the confines of my house in England. I was home-schooled. I've never had a relationship before. Is it so wrong to be scared?" She laughed when Silence's lip twitched in distaste. "Just because I'm not as outgoing as you are…"

"That would be scary," Mina interjected.

And the four girls burst into laughter. Kitty fell off the arm of the couch, landing in Silence's lap and falling across Mina's, which only resulted in more laughter. Across the room, Bobby and Rogue were sitting on a couch talking, and the sudden bursts of laughter brought their attention to the girls. Bobby smiled and laughed a bit himself, but Rogue just scowled. There was a moment of tension in the room as the laughing girls fell silent, and then they all collapsed once again, laughing and clutching at their sides.

It was good to catch up.

It was good to be with friends again.

It was good to finally have a real home where she was comfortable.

She was happy.

* * *

**Author's Note… **Guess what? That's the end. When I said three to five chapters in the last chapter, I was seriously guessing. I don't remember what I was going to write – like what the hell was I thinking when I said that? So I lied. I'm sorry. But, I think I'm going to start the sequel right away. (Yes Shauna, I'm going to take you're idea and abandon the middle fic and just put it inthe sequel.) So please don't be mad at me. I'm sorry that this is a rather abrupt ending, but it follows the movie and I honestly don't remember what I was going to put in here anymore. So, look forward to the sequel, which I'm not sure if I'm still going to call **Intoxication**. If I can think of a better name, I'll pick that one. Although, **Intoxication **works for a few reasons in the third X-Men movie… Hm… I guess you're have to see. So, once again, sorry for the abrupt ending, please don't be mad at me. The sequel will be up soon! Thank you to all who read and enjoyed and reviewed this fic, it meant a lot. Now I have to hope that when I go back to the dorm that Shauna doesn't shoot me. See you all in the sequel!


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